In^  ^ 


HOP    Huntington 


tihvavy  of  t:he  ^heolo0ical  ^eminarjp 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


BV  85  .H84 

Huntington,  F.  D.  1819-190 

New  helps  to  a  holy  Lent 


•if 


NEW  HELPS 


A  HOLY  LENT 


Rt.  Rev.  F.  D.  HUNTINGTON,  D.  D. 

BISHOP   OF  CENTRAL  NEW  YORK 
AUIHOR  OF  "helps  TO  A  HOLT  LENT,"  "  CHRISTIAN  BELIEVING  AND  LIVING,"  ETC.,  Eia 


NEW    YORK 
E.   P.   BUTTON  AND   COMPANY 

713  Broadway 
1876 


Copj'riglit, 

E   P.  Button  and  Company 

1876. 


RIVERSIDE,   CAMBRIDGE: 

STEREOTYPED    AND    PRINTED    BY 

H.   0     HOUGHTON   AND   COMPANY. 


The  readings  that  are  not  original  are  taken 
from  the  writings  of  English  Authors,  living  or  de- 
parted. 


NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^^i^'MUmt^nat 


Return  unto  me,  and  I  will  return  unto  you,  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts. 

The  Lord  whom  ye  seek  shall  suddenly  come  to  his  Temple. 

He  shall  sit  as  a  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver,  and  he  shall 
purify  the  sons  of  Levi,  and  purge  them  as  gold  and  silver,  that 
they  may  offer  unto  the  Lord  an  ojffering  in  righteousness.  I 
am  the  Lord.     I  change  not. 

Ask  and  ye  shall  receive;  seek  and  ye  shall  find. 

Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  store-house,  ....  and  prove 
me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  if  I  will  not  open 
you  the  windows  of  Heaven  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing  that 
there  shall  not  be  room  to  receive  it. 

And  He  said  unto  me,  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee ;  for  My 
strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness. 

If  we  begin  Lent  with  holy  fear,  determined  in 
earnest  to  deny  ourselves  in  some  way  or  other ;  if 
we  go  on  soberly  in  that  mind,  and  if  we  are  not  too 
impatient  for  comfort,  we  shall  find  before  long  that 


6  NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

comfort  comes.  It  may  not  come  so  soon  as  we  had 
wished  or  imagined ;  it  may  not  come  in  the  par- 
ticular way  we  should  have  chosen  ;  for  awhile  it 
may  not  seem  to  come  at  all ;  but  come  it  will,  sooner 
or  later,  to  them  that  in  humble  obedience  resign 
themselves  to  the  want  of  it. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  forty  days,  to  look  forward 
to  spending  them  strictly,  (strictly,  in  such  measure 
as  health  and  other  duties  may  allow,)  would  be  to 
most  of  us  a  bleak,  dreary  kind  of  thought ;  it  would 
require  faith  to  make  up  our  minds  to  do  so.  A  dif- 
ference in  diet  day  after  day ;  more  frequent  prayer  ; 
keeping  ourselves  from  some  customary  diversions  ; 
doing,  in  short,  something  or  other,  whatever  our  con- 
science well  directed  tells  us  is  best,  to  mortify  our 
souls  and  bodies,  this  is  what  no  one  naturally  likes  ; 
no  one  of  his  own  pleasure  would  look  forward  to  it 
for  six  or  seven  weeks  together.  But  those  who  have 
in  some  small  measure  tried  it,  tried  it  conscientiously 
and  in  earnest,  and  not  for  form's  sake,  have  gener- 
ally found,  besides  the  benefit  promised  in  Scripture 
to  such  obedience,  a  peculiar  kind  of  holy  sweetness 
accompanying  their  little  acts  of  self-denial.  If  they 
really  tried  to  give  themselves  for  the  time  entirely 
to  Christ,  to  rule  their  tempers  as  well  as  their  ap- 
petites, to  be  kind  to  others  as  well  as  strict  to  them- 
selves, to  mean  what  they  said  in  their  prayers  and 


ASH-WEDNESDAY.  7 

confessions,  and  to  do  all  as  secretly  as  possible,  they 
really  have  found  oftentimes  a  comfort  and  refresh- 
ment in  their  severities  such  as  they  were,  —  a  com- 
fort which  they  neither  thought  of  before  nor  can 
well  understand,  now  they  find  it.  Neither  dare  they 
at  all  depend  on  it  for  the  future,  nor  promise  it  to 
themselves  or  others.  Their  way  seems  to  be,  thank- 
fully to  take  it  as  it  comes,  discerning  in  it  an  an- 
gelic message  much  like  that  which  was  sent  to  Elijah, 
"  Arise  and  eat  because  the  journey  is  too  great  for 
thee." 

The  Sundays,  for  example,  at  this  time  of  Lent, 
must  come  with  a  peculiar  sort  of  welcome  fragrance 
to  those  who  have  been  strict  with  themselves  on  the 
week-days.  The  day  of  holy  joy  and  thankfulness 
stands  out  even  higher  than  usual  among  so  many 
days  of  penitential  sorrow. 

Perhaps,  too,  the  beautiful  Spring  weather,  which 
always  comes  in  more  or  less  with  some  part  or  other 
of  the  forty  days  of  Lent,  may  be  not  untruly  re- 
garded by  considerate  persons  as  a  token  of  refresh- 
ment :  an  angel  touching  them  and  bidding  them  be 
of  good  hope  that  their  prayers  and  self-denials  and 
alms  do  indeed  go  up  for  a  memorial  before  God,  and 
are  graciously  received  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  and 
that  their  Lent  will  lead  in  due  time  to  a  happy 
Easter. 


8  NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Other  times  and  waj^s  of  refreshment  there  are, 
more  regular,  and  such  as  may  without  presumption 
be  looked  forward  to,  when  people  are  encouraging 
themselves  and  others  to  set  out  on  the  journey  of 
Christian  penitence,  otherwise  too  great  for  them. 
Thus,  what  a  blessing  it  is,  when  you  come  to  con- 
sider it,  for  those  whose  time  is  marked  out  by  regu- 
lar and  very  frequent  returns  of  prayer.  We  know 
how  milestones  or  other  objects  at  regular  distances 
shorten  a  road  ;  so  do  hours  and  times  of  prayer,  care- 
fully and  devoutly  kept,  shorten  the  day,  and  days  so 
spent  shorten  the  week,  and  weeks  the  month,  and 
months  the  year,  and  years  the  whole  life  of  the  pen- 
itent, which  when  he  looked  on  to  it  seemed  as  if  it 
would  be  a  heavy  and  weary  waste,  full  of  strictness 
for  which  he  was  little  prepared.  Do  not  think  that 
what  is  now  recommended  is  a  thing  impossible  for 
poor,  busy,  hard-working  men.  Those  at  least  who 
know  a  good  deal  of  the  Psalms  and  Collects  of  the 
Church  might  easily  choose  out  a  short  psalm  and  a 
short  collect,  which  they  might  learn  by  heart  and 
say  with  the  Lord's  Prayer,  every  three  or  four  hours, 
without  stopping  their  work  so  much  as  five  minutes. 
If  any  man  were  truly  touched  with  a  sense  of  his 
sins,  and  wanted  to  exercise  himself  in  continual  de- 
votion, this  sort  of  exercise  would  be  the  greatest  help 
to  him  ;  and  by  dividing  the  time  it  would  greatly 


ASH-WEDNESDAY.  9 

lessen  what  otherwise  might  be  felt  too  much  of  a 
yoke. 

The  greatest  of  all  refreshments,  as  well  as  of  all 
helps,  is  the  Holy  Commmiion  of  our  Lord's  Body 
and  Blood,  called  as  it  sometimes  is,  on  this  very  ac- 
count, the  stay  of  the  wayfaring  man.  Who  can  tell 
the  greatness  of  the  mercy  which  invites  us  so  often 
to  arise  and  eat  this  Bread,  since  otherwise  our  jour- 
ney would  be  far  too  great  for  us  ? 

Bless  God  for  these  and  all  other  His  untold  un- 
hoped-for loving-kindnesses,  whereby  He  ever  goes 
out  to  meet  poor  returning  prodigals,  and  not  only 
receives  them  but  clothes  and  feeds  them  with  His 
best.  Bless  Him  for  these  consolations,  and  use  them 
when  the}^  come,  humbl}'^  and  joyfully,  but  never 
forget  this  one  thing,  —  that  you  are  penitents  ;  you 
must  neither  depend  on  them  beforehand,  nor  alto- 
gether indulge  in  them  as  comforts  when  they  come. 
We  are  but  beggars ;  it  becomes  us  not  to  have  a 
choice.  What  God  sends  we  must  take  thankfully 
as  it  comes.  It  will  seldom  be  exactly  what  we 
should  have  fixed  upon,  but  it  will  be  enough  to  stay 
us  and  help  us  on  our  way  home.  Elijah  had  but 
one  meal  of  bread  and  water,  and  it  lasted  him  all 
through  his  Lent,  till  he  came  to  the  Mount  of  God. 
Our  refreshments,  bodily  and  spiritual,  will  be  good 
if  they  will  bring  us  nearer  Christ,  and  not  else. 


10         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

"  Wouldst  thou  glance 
Into  the  dark  depths  of  a  human  heart 
One  moment  ?  "     And  Christ  set  me  in  a  trance, 
Opening  my  eyes  to  see, 

While  at  His  word  the  gates  flew  wide  apart. 
I  entered  and  essayed  to  advance, 
But  quickly  back  I  drew  with  sudden  start, 
Chilled  with  the  coldness  of  its  vaults  of  sin 
And  all  I  saw  within. 

There 
Envy,  hatred,  malice,  pride. 
Had  each  their  altars  ranged  on  every  side 
To  self,  the  selfsame  idol  every Avhere, 
While  through  the  cobwebbed  windows  light  divine 
Struo-o-led  to  shine. 

CO 

"Ah,  Lord  !"  I  cried, 

"  Surely  this  heart  a  heathen's  heart  must  be,  — 

One  who  hath  never  heard  of  Thee." 

With  agony  I  learned  that  it  was  mine. 

I  fled  away, 

O'erwhelmed  with  sorrow  and  despairing  gloom. 

To  breathe  a  purer  air. 

But  in  its  dismal  room 

The  Christ  would  stay  ! 

He  shrank  not  even  from  this  whited  tomb,  — 

And  it  became  His  temple  from  that  day. 

/^  GOD,  almighty  but  all  merciful,  to  whom  all  hearts  are 
^^^  open,  and  from  whom  no  secrets  are  hid,  we  know  that  no 
unclean  thing  can  enter  into  Thy  Kingdom.  Our  hearts  are 
not  clean,  but  Thou  canst  purify  them.  Our  souls  are  sick, 
but  Thou  canst  heal  them.    Our  eyes  are  blind,  but  Thou  canst 


ASH-WEDNESDAY.  H 

enlighten  tlieiii.  Too  cold  and  lifeless  have  we  been  in  spiritual 
things,  and  even  in  our  communion  with  Thee,  O  Blessed  Spirit, 
the  Lord  of  Holiness  and  the  Fountain  of  Life.  And  now,  in 
the  return  of  these  days  of  our  humiliation  and  of  Thy  wonder- 
ful and  peculiar  grace,  wilt  Thou  receive  us,  renew  us,  and  re- 
fresh us  with  Thy  heavenly  benediction  and  favor.  Consider 
not  our  unworthiness  but  Thine  own  comfortable  declaration, 
that  Thou  wiliest  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but  rather  that  he 
shall  turn  from  his  wickedness  and  live.  Turn  Thou  us,  O 
Lord,  and  we  shall  be  turned.  We  hear  and  accept  Thy  most 
patient  invitation.  Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  and  I  will  refresh  you  !  We  renew  our  promises  of  obe- 
dience to  Thy  commandments  and  fidelity  in  Thy  service.  Send 
us  the  comfort  of  Thy  help  again.  Revive  Thy  work,  O  Lord, 
in  the  midst  of  the  years.  Open  Thou  the  windows  of  Heaven 
and  pour  out  blessings  upon  all  Thine  heritage.  Search  oot 
hearts,  we  beseech  Thee,  and  leave  no  wicked  thing  in  us.  De- 
liver us  from  our  pride,  and  passion,  and  folly,  and  self-love, 
from  wrong  companionships  and  false  customs,  and  irreverent 
and  uncharitable  thoughts,  and  all  the  powers  of  darkness. 
And  bring  us  on  our  way  to  the  resurrection  of  the  just  in  peace, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 


12         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


firstt  Ci^urjsDat- 


He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is  least  is  faithful  also  in 
much;  and  he  that  is  unjust  in  the  least  is  unjust  also  in  much. 

True  faithfulness  knows  no    distinction 

BETWEEN  GREAT  AND  SMALL  DUTIES.  From  the 
highest  point  of  view,  that  is,  from  God's  point  of 
view,  nothing  is  great,  nothing  small,  as  ive  meas- 
ure it.  The  worth  and  the  quality  of  an  action 
depend  on  its  motive  only,  and  not  at  all  on  its 
prominence,  or  on  any  other  of  the  accidents  which 
we  are  always  apt  to  adopt  as  the  tests  of  the  great- 
ness of  our  deeds.  The  largeness  of  the  consequences 
of  anything  that  we  do  is  no  measure  of  the  true 
greatness  or  true  value  of  it.  So  it  is  in  regard  to 
God  Himself,  and  His  doings.  To  Him,  for  His  lofti- 
ness, there  is  nothing  high  ;  to  Him,  for  His  gen- 
tleness, there  is  nothing  low.  He  as  gladly  stands 
by  the  sick-bed  and  binds  up  the  broken-hearted,  as 
He  "telleth  the  number  of  the  stars."  All  that 
vulgar  error  into  which  we  are  ever  falling  —  the 
measuring  of  the  magnitude  by  the  apparent  conse- 


FIRST   THURSDAY.  13 

quences  of  oui*  deeds,  —  is  the  very  ruin  of  all  true 
strength,  and  of  all  true  obedience  too.  In  one 
respect  nothing  is  great,  nothing  is  small,  except 
according  as  the  reason  for  which  I  do  it  is  lofty, 
because  it  is  obedience  to  God ;  or  is  lowly  and 
mean,  because  it  is  pleasure  to  myself.  In  another 
respect  everything  that  a  man  can  do  is  great  and 
awful.  All  the  beatings  of  that  heart,  all  the  work- 
ings of  that  nature,  are  terrible  with  the  light  of 
immortality.  I  have  a  soul  that  lives  forever,  and 
I  can  pour  that  immortal  being  into  every  deed  that 
I  do.  What  can  be  little  to  the  making  of  which 
there  goes  the  force  of  a  soul  that  can  know  God 
and  must  abide  forevermore?  Nothing  is  small 
that  a  spirit  can  do.  Nothing  is  small  that  can  be 
done  from  a  mighty  motive.  But  even  when  we 
adopt  the  distinction  of  great  and  small  in  regard 
to  men's  actions,  true  fidelity  must  make  no  dis- 
tinction in  regard  to  the  imperative  nature  of  duty 
in  the  small  as  in  the  great.  The  least  action  of  life 
can  be  as  surely  done  from  the  loftiest  motive,  as 
the  highest  and  the  noblest.  Faithfulness  measures 
acts  as  God  measures  them.  True  conscientiousness 
deals  with  our  duties  as  God  deals  with  them.  Duty 
is  duty,  conscience  is  conscience,  right  is  right,  and 
wrong  is  wrong,  whatever  sized  type  they  be  printed 
in.     "  Large "  or  "  small "    are  not  words   for  the 


14  NEW   HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

vocabulary  of  conscience.  It  knows  only  two  words 
—  right  and  wrong.  And  —  just  as  the  quality  of 
life  may  be  as  perfect  in  the  minutest  animalculae,  of 
which  there  may  be  millions  in  a  cubic  inch,  and 
generations  may  die  in  an  hour  —  as  perfect  in  the 
smallest  insect  as  in  "  behemoth,  biggest  born  of 
earth,"  so  righteousness  may  be  as  completely  em- 
bodied, as  perfectly  set  forth,  as  fully  operative,  in 
the  tiniest  action  that  I  can  do,  as  in  the  largest  that 
an  immortal  spirit  can  be  set  to  perform.  The  circle 
that  is  in  a  gnat's  eye  is  as  true  a  circle  as  the  one 
that  holds  within  its  sweep  all  the  stars  ;  and  the 
sphere  that  a  dew-drop  makes  is  as  perfect  a  sphere 
as  that  of  the  world.  All  duties  are  the  same  which 
are  done  from  the  same  motive  ;  all  acts  which  are 
not  so  done  are  alike  sins. 

And  should  not  this  principle  send  us  about  our 
daily  life  with  a  cheerfulness  and  a  power  to  which 
we  are  much  strangers  at  present  ?  Why  is  it  that 
Christian  people  so  constantly  break  down  in  the 
minutisB  of  obedience,  and  in  the  little  things  of  their 
ordinary  doing,  but  because,  amongst  other  reasons, 
we  have  got  hold  of  that  notion  that  small  things 
are  less  important  than  great  ones,  and  that  great 
actions  need  mightier  motives  and  larger  faith  than 
the  small  ?  Oh,  it  irradiates  all  our  days  with  lofty 
beauty,  and  it  makes  them  all  hallowed  and  divine, 


FIRST   THURSDAY.  15 

when  we  feel  that  not  the  apparent  greatness,  not 
the  prominence  nor  noise  with  which  it  is  done,  nor 
the  external  consequences  which  flow  from  it,  but  the 
motive  from  which  it  flowed  determines  the  worth 
of  our  deed  in  God's  eyes.  Faithfulness  is  faithful- 
ness, on  whatsoever  scale  it  be  set  forth  ! 

To  keep  ourselves  clear  from  the  world,  never  to 
break  the  sweet  charities  that  bind  together  the  cir- 
cles of  our  homes,  to  walk  within  our  houses  with 
perfect  hearts,  to  be  honest  over  the  pence  as  well  as 
over  the  pounds,  never  to  permit  the  little  risings  of 
momentary  anger  that  seem  but  a  trifle  because  they 
pass  away  so  quickly,  to  do  the  small  duties  that  re- 
cur with  every  beat  of  the  pendulum,  and  that  must 
be  done  by  present  force  and  by  instantly  falling 
back  upon  the  loftiest  principle,  or  they  cannot  be 
done  at  all,  —  these  are  as  noble  ways  of  glorifying 
Christ  and  being  glorified  in  Him,  as  any  to  which 
we  can  ever  attain. 

That  love  is  purest  and  most  true 

Whicli  leans  upon  its  Saviour's  breast, 
And  thinks  with  pleasure  ever  new 

How  in  all  things  to  please  Him  best; 
Which  in  all  things,  not  great  alone, 

On  serving  Him  is  fully  bent, 
And  knowingly  will  not  to  one, 

No,  not  the  smallest  sin  consent. 


16         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Begin,  then,  first  with  little  things: 
The  smallest  sin  avoid  and  hate ; 

Obedience  to  love  adds  wings, 

And  little  faith  will  grow  to  great. 

/~\  GRACIOUS  GOD  and  most  merciful  Father,  who  hast 
vouchsafed  us  the  rich  and  precious  jewel  of  Thy  Holy 
"Word,  convert  us  with  Thy  Spirit,  that  it  may  be  written  in 
our  hearts  to  our  everlasting  comfort,  to  reform  us,  to  renew  us 
according  to  Thine  own  image,  to  build  us  up  and  edify  us  into 
the  perfect  building  of  Thy  Christ,  sanctifying  and  increasing 
in  us  all  heavenly  virtues.  Grant  this,  O  Heavenly  Father, 
for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.     Amen. 


FIRST  FRIDAY.  17 


ifim  HviMV 


We  all,  with  open  face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of 
the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory 
as  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

Let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  look- 
ing unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith,  who  for  the 
joy  that  was  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the 
shame. 

"  Looking  to  Jesus  "  is  the  only  means  of  thor- 
oughgoing, absolute  self-denial.  All  other  surren- 
der than  that  which  is  based  upon  love  to  Him,  and 
faith  in  Him,  is  but  surface  work,  and  drives  the 
subtle  disease  to  the  vitals.  The  man  that  tries,  by- 
paring  off  an  excrescence  here,  and  giving  up  a  bad 
habit  there,  to  hammer  and  tinker  and  cut  himself 
into  the  shape  of  a  true  and  perfect  man,  may  do  it 
outwardly.  He  will  scarcely  do  that,  but  it  is  possi- 
ble he  may  partially.  And  then,  what  has  he  made 
himself  ?  "A  whited sepulchre : ' '  outside,  —  adorned, 
beautiful,  clean ;  inside,  —  full  of  rottenness  and 
dead  men's  bones  !     The  self  that  was  beaten  in  the 

2 


18         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

open  field  of  outward  life,  retires,  like  a  defeated 
army,  behind  broad  rivers ;  and  concentrates  itself 
in  its  fortresses,  and  prepares  hopefully  for  a  victo- 
rious resistance  in  the  citadel  of  the  heart. 

Just  as  the  old  leaves  drop  naturally  from  the  tree 
when  the  new  buds  of  spring  begin  to  put  them- 
selves out,  let  the  new  affection  come  and  dwell  in 
thy  heart,  and  expel  the  old.  "  Lay  aside  every 
weight " — "  looking  unto  Jesus."  Then,  too,  you  will 
find  that  the  sacrifice  and  maiming  of  the  old  man 
has  been  the  perfecting  of  the  man.  You  will  find 
that  whatever  you  give  up  for  Christ  you  get  back 
from  Christ,  better,  more  beautiful,  more  blessed, 
hallowed  to  its  inmost  core,  a  joy  and  a  possession 
forever.  For  He  will  not  suffer  that  any  gift  laid 
upon  His  altar  shall  not  be  given  back  to  us.  So, 
the  hand  that  is  cut  off,  the  eye  that  is  plucked  out, 
the  possessions  that  are  rendered  up,  the  idols  that 
are  slain,  —  they  are  all  given  back  to  us  again  when 
we  stand  in  God's  own  light  in  glory  —  perfect  men, 
made  after  the  image  of  Christ,  and  surrounded  with 
all  possessions  transfigured  and  glorified  in  the  light 
of  God.  "  There  is  no  man  that  hath  left  house,  or 
parents,  or  brethren,  or  wife,  or  children,  for  the 
kingdom  of  God's  sake,  who  shall  not  receive  man- 
ifold more  in  this  present  time  and  in  the  world  to 
come  life  everlasting. 


FIRST   FRIDAY.  19 

Is  there  a  thing  beneath  the  sun, 

That  strives  with  Thee  my  heart  to  share  ? 

Oh,  tear  it  thence  and  reign  alone, 
The  Lord  of  every  motion  there. 

Then  shall  my  heart  from  earth  be  free, 

When  it  has  found  repose  in  Thee. 

Oh,  hide  this  self  from  me,  that  I 
No  more  but  Chiist  in  me  may  Uve  : 

My  vile  affections  crucify, 

Nor  let  one  darling  lust  survive. 

In  all  things  nothing  may  I  see, 

Nor  aught  desu-e,  or  seek,  but  Thee. 

/^  GOD,  whose  name  is  ineffable,  who  purifiest  the  cavern  of 
man's  heart  from  vices,  and  makest  it  whiter  than  the 
snow;  bestow  on  us  Thy  compassions;  renew  in  our  inward  parts, 
we  pray  Thee,  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  by  whom  we  may  be  able  to 
show  forth  Thy  praise;  that  being  strengthened  by  the  righteous 
and  princely  Spirit  we  may  attain  a  place  in  the  Heavenly  Jeru- 
salem, through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 


20         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


ifim  ^aturtia^. 


The  light  of  the  body  is  the  eye  :  if  therefore  thine  eye  be 
single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light. 
Spiritual  things  are  spiritually  discerned. 

God  Himself  is  His  greatest  gift.  The  loftiest 
blessing  which  we  can  receive  is  that  we  should  be 
heirs,  possessors  of  God. 

In  general  terms,  spiritual  blessings  can  onl}'^  be 
given  to  those  who  are  in  a  certain  spiritual  con- 
dition. Always  and  necessarily  the  capacity  or 
organ  of  reception  precedes  and  determines  the  be- 
stowment  of  blessings.  The  light  falls  everywhere, 
but  only  the  eye  drinks  it  in.  The  lower  orders 
of  creatures  are  shut  out  from  all  participation  in 
the  gifts  which  belong  to  the  higher  forms  of  life, 
simply  because  they  are  so  made  and  organized  as 
that  these  cannot  find  entrance  into  their  nature. 
They  are,  as  it  were,  walled  up  all  round ;  and 
the  only  door  they  have  to  communicate  with  the 
outer  world  is  the  door  of  sense.  Man  has  higher 
gifts  simply  because  he  has  higher  capacities.     All 


FIRST   SATURDAY.  21 

creatures  are  plunged  in  the  same  boundless  ocean 
of  Divine  beneficence  and  bestowment,  and  into 
each  there  flows  just  that,  and  no  more,  which 
each,  by  the  make  and  constitution  that  God  has 
given  him,  is  capable  of  receiving.  In  the  man 
there  are  more  windows  and  doors  knocked  out  than 
in  the  animal.  He  is  capable  of  receiving  intel- 
lectual impulses,  spiritual  emotions.  He  can  think, 
and  feel,  and  desire,  and  will,  and  resolve  ;  and  so  he 
stands  on  a  higher  level  than  the  beast  below  him. 

Not  otherwise  is  it  in  regard  to  God's  kingdom, 
"  which  is  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost."  The  gift  and  blessing  of  salvation 
is  primarily  a  spiritual  gift,  and  only  involving  out- 
ward consequences  secondarily  and  subordinately. 
It  mainly  consists  in  the  heart  being  at  peace  with 
God,  in  the  whole  soul  being  filled  with  Divine 
affections,  in  the  weight  and  bondage  of  transgres- 
sion being  taken  away,  and  substituted  by  the  im 
pulse  and  the  life  of  the  new  love.  Therefore, 
neither  God  can  give,  nor  man  can  receive,  that 
gift  upon  any  other  terms  than  just  this  :  that  the 
heart  and  nature  be  fitted  and  adapted  for  it.  Spir- 
itual blessings  require  a  spiritual  capacity  for  the 
reception  of  them ;  you  cannot  have  the  inheritance 
unless  you  are  sons.  If  salvation  consisted  simply 
in  a  change   of  place;  if   it  were   merely  that   by 


22         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

some  expedient  or  arrangement  an  outward  penalty, 
which  was  to  fall  or  not  to  fall  at  the  will  of  an 
arbitrary  judge,  was  prevented  from  coming  down, 
why  then,  it  would  be  open  to  Him  who  held  the 
power  of  letting  the  sword  fall,  to  decide  on  what 
terms  He  might  choose  to  suspend  its  infliction. 
But  inasmuch  as  God's  deliverance  is  not  a  deliver- 
ance from  a  mere  arbitrary  and  outward  punish- 
ment ;  inasmuch  as  God's  salvation,  though  it  be 
deliverance  from  the  penalty  as  well  as  from  the 
guilt  of  sin  is  by  no  means  chiefly  a  deliverance 
from  outAvard  consequences,  but  a  removal  of  the 
nature  and  disposition  that  make  these  outward 
consequences  certain,  —  therefore  a  man  cannot  be 
saved,  God's  love  cannot  save  him,  God's  justice 
will  not  save  him,  God's  power  stands  back  from 
saving  him,  upon  any  other  condition  than  this, — 
that  his  soul  shall  be  adapted  and  prepared  for  the 
reception  and  enjoyment  of  the  blessing  of  a  spirit- 
ual salvation. 

There  is  no  inheritance  of  Heaven  without  son- 
ship;  because  all  the  blessings  of  that  future  life 
are  of  a  spiritual  character.  The  joy,  and  the  rap- 
ture, and  the  glory  of  that  higher  and  better  life, 
have,  of  course,  connected  with  them  certain  changes 
of  bodily  form,  certain  changes  of  local  dwelling,  cer- 
tain changes  which  could  perhaps  be  granted  equally 


FIRST   SATURDAY.  23 

to  a  man,  of  whatever  sort  he  was.  But  it  is  not 
the  golden  harps,  not  the  pavement  of  "  glass  min- 
gled with  fire,"  not  the  cessation  from  work,  not 
the  still  composure  and  changeless  indwelling,  not 
the  society  even,  that  makes  the  Heaven  of  heaven. 
All  these  are  but  the  embodiments  and  rendering 
visible  of  the  inward  thing,  a  soul  at  peace  with 
God  in  the  depths  of  its  being,  an  eye  which  gazes 
upon  the  Father,  and  a  heart  which  wraps  itself  in 
His  arms.  Heaven  is  no  heaven  except  in  so  far  as 
it  is  the  possession  of  God.  That  saying  of  the 
Psalmist  is  not  an  exaggeration,  nor  even  a  forget- 
ting of  the  other  elements  of  future  blessedness, 
but  it  is  a  simple  statement  of  the  literal  fact  of 
the  case,  "I  have  none  in  Heaven  but  Thee  !  "  God 
is  the  heritage  of  His  people.  To  dwell  in  His  love, 
and  to  be  filled  with  His  light,  and  to  walk  forever 
in  the  glory  of  His  sunlit  face,  to  do  His  will,  and 
to  bear  His  character  stamped  upon  our  foreheads, 
—  that  is  the  glory  and  the  perf ectness  to  which  we 
are  aspiring. 

Eye  hath  never  seen 

On  this  pale  earth  such  glory,  ear  hath  heard 

No  music  like  the  songs  which  seemed  to  float 

Across  the  place.     Above  the  city  stood 

No  sun,  yet  forth  she  looked,  clear  as  the  sun, 

Fair  as  the  moon,  and  terrible  as  some 


24         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Great  array.     And  the  shining  of  her  walls 
Was  like  the  glory  of  a  golden  Dawn 
On  stainless  snow.     Upon  the  streets  there  went 
And  came  a  holy  people  clad  in  white, 
With  faces  sealed  to  peace  unspeakable. 
I  did  not  see  His  Face  who  sitteth  King 
Within  the  Shining  City,  but  I  saw, 
Reflected  on  each  face,  His  wondrous  look, 
And  I  could  read  that  every  eye  within 
The   City  saw  Him,  though  I  saw  Him  not. 
The  gates  were  open,  and  the  voice  of  them 
That  sing  for  joy  of  heart  was  heard  again  within. 

/^  MERCIFUL  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Who  didst  redeem  us 
with  Thy  precious  Blood,  have  mercy  upon  the  souls 
of  Thy  servants,  and  graciously  bring  them  to  the  joyful 
dwellings  of  Paradise,  that  they  may  there  love  Thee  with 
that  unspeakable  love  which  can  never  be  separated  from 
Thee  and  Tliine  elect,  who  livest  with  the  Father  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  one  God,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


FIRST  SUNDAY.  25 


ifirjst  ^unDa^. 


Beloved,  be  diligent  that  ye  may  be  found  'of  Him  in  peace, 
without  spot  and  blameless. 

Grow  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledo^e  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ. 

What  does  growing  in  grace  mean,  but  that  our 
spiritual  intention  should  lengthen  its  reach,  —  should 
extend  itself  more  and  more  to  every  corner  of  our 
life  ?  Some  little  business  of  routine  calls  my  atten- 
tion at  a  certain  hour,  having  nothing  sublime  oi 
extraordinary  in  it,  but  the  neglect  of  which  would 
entail  discomfort  and  annoyance,  —  a  visit,  or  a  letter 
of  courtesy,  or  an  interview,  in  which  a  few  neces- 
sary words  pass,  and  then  it  is  over.  Well;  even 
the  most  earthly  of  earthly  actions,  those  which  are 
most  bound  up  with  this  transitory  state  of  things, 
and  which  have  no  intrinsic  dignity  or  sacredness 
whatever,  may  be  spiritualized  by  importing  into 
them  a  spiritual  intention.  The  little  courtesies, 
for  example,  which  society  requires,  may  be  yielded 
simply  because  they  are  social  requirements,  in  which 


26  NEW   HELPS   TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

case  they  will  be  often  done  "  grudgingly,  and  of 
necessity  ; "  or  they  may  bo  regarded  as  so  many  op- 
portunities of  compliance  with  the  inspired  precept, 
"Be  courteous" — in  which  case  they  will  be  done 
cheerfully,  "  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  unto  men."  And 
(generally)  the  meeting  of  all  calls  upon  us,  how- 
ever humble,  with  the  thought  that  they  come  to  us 
in  the  way  of  God's  providence,  and  in  the  working 
out  of  the  system  of  things  which  He  has  appointed, 
and  are  indications  of  the  quarter  in  which  He  would 
have  us  direct  our  energies,  is  a  great  means  of  puri- 
fying our  intention,  and  so  of  advancing  in  spirit- 
uality. For  nobody  is  aware  what  is  going  on  in  our 
hearts,  when  we  meet  these  calls  in  a  devout  spirit ; 
our  friends  only  see  us  doing  commonplace  things 
which  others  do,  and  give  us  no  credit.  But,  in  so 
meeting  such  calls,  we  have  praise  of  God,  who,  like 
a  good  Father,  marks  with  approbation  the  humblest 
efforts  of  His  children  to  please  Him. 

I  would  have  gone  ;  God  bade  me  stay  : 
I  would  have  worked  ;  God  bade  me  rest. 

He  broke  my  will  from  day  to  day, 
He  read  my  yearnings  unexpressed, 
And  said  them  nay. 

Now  I  would  stay  ;  God  bids  me  go  : 
Now  I  would  rest  5  God  bids  me  work. 


FIRST    SUNDAY.  27 

He  breaks  my  heart  tossed  to  and  fro, 
My  soul  is  wrung  Avith  doubts  tbat  lurk 
And  vex  it  so. 

I  go,  Lord,  where  Thou  sendest  me  ; 

Day  after  day  I  plod  and  moil  : 
But  Christ  my  God,  when  will  it  be 

That  I  may  let  alone  my  toil 
Andrest  with  Thee? 

/^  GOD,  who  for  the  perfecting  of  our  faith  hast  set  us  in 
conflict  between  the  flesh  and  the  spirit,  give  us  grace  so 
to  walk  in  the  spirit,  that  we  may  not  fulfill  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh.  Perfect  Thou  us  in  love,  that  we  may  conquer  our  nat- 
ural selfishness  and  hatred  of  others  ;  fill  our  hearts  with  Thy 
joy,  and  shed  abroad  in  them  Thy  peace  which  passeth  under- 
standing ;  that  so  those  murmurings  and  disputings,  to  which 
we  are  by  nature  prone,  may  be  overcome.  Make  us  long-suf- 
fering and  gentle,  and  thus  subdue  our  hastiness  and  angry  tem- 
pers. Give  us  faith,  meekness,  and  temperance,  against  which 
there  is  no  law.  And  thus  crucifying  the  flesh  with  its  affec- 
tions and  lusts,  may  we  bring  forth  the  blessed  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  to  Thy  praise  and  glory  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen. 


28         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT, 


fit&t  jHontiat' 


He  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  Me  is  not  worthy 
of  Me,  and  he  that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than  Me  is  not 
■worthy  of  Me. 

To  me  to  Uve  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain. 

Notice  the  habitual  stress  laid  by  Christ  on  His 
own  Person  as  the  organ  of  Christian  influence. 
Nothing  could  be  better  calculated  to  strike  the  pop- 
ular mind  than  this  emphasis,  laid  by  One  who  from 
the  first  preaches  lowliness  of  heart,  and  predicts  the 
shortness  of  His  life  and  the  ignominious  violence  of 
His  end,  —  on  Himself  as  the  source  of  an  enduring 
power,  and  the  corner-stone  of  a  divine  kingdom. 
The  necessity  of  loving  Him,  the  perpetual  fame  of 
her  who  anointed  Him  for  His  burial,  the  grief  that 
will  be  rightly  felt  for  Him  when  He  leaves  the 
earth,  the  identification  of  men's  duty  to  each  other, 
even  to  "  the  least  of  these.  My  brethren,"  with 
their  duty  to  Him,  — all  these  are  assumptions  which 
run  through  the  whole  Gospel.  Though  His  king- 
dom is  to  be   the  kingdom  of  which  a  little   child 


FIRST   MONDAY.  29 

is  the  true  type,  the  kingdom  in  which  it  is  the 
"  meek  "  who  are  blessed,  in  which  it  is  the  "  poor 
ill  spirit  "  who  are  to  be  the  rulers,  yet  this  is  only 
saying  in  other  words  that  He  is  to  be  the  life  of  it, 
since  it  is  because  He  is  "  meek  and  lowly  in  heart  " 
that  those  who  come  to  Him  shall  find  rest  for  their 
souls.  Whether  you  choose  to  say  that  it  is  in  spite 
of  this  humility  or  because  of  this  humility,  yet  in 
either  case  Christ  proclaims  HimseK  as  the  true 
object  of  love,  and  the  permanent  centre  of  power 
throughout  the  kingdom  He  proclaims.  He  declares 
that  His  departure  will  be  the  first  legitimate  cause 
of  mourning  to  His  followers  :  "  Can  the  children 
of  the  bride-chamber  mourn  as  long  as  the  bride- 
groom is  with  them,  but  the  days  will  come  when 
the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  from  them,  and  then 
shall  they  fast."  The  love  of  Him  is  to  predominate 
over  all  other  love.  "He  that  loveth  father  or 
mother  more  than  Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me,  and  he 
that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than  Me  is  not 
worthy  of  Me."  Exclusion  from  His  presence  is 
everywhere  treated  as  that  outer  darkness,  where 
there  are  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  His  vision 
of  the  spiritual  future  of  untrue  men  is  of  men  cry- 
ing to  Him,  "  Lord,  Lord  !  "  and  entreating  Him  to 
recognize  them,  to  whom  He  will  be  compelled  to 
reply,  "  I  never  knew  you  ;  depart  from  Me,  ye  that 


30         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

work  iniquity."  He  justifies  with  warmth  all  honor 
paid  to  Him  personally  ;  "  The  poor  ye  have  always 
with  3^ou,  but  Me  ye  have  not  always  ;  "  ''  Verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  wherever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached 
in  the  whole  world,  there  shall  also  this,  which  this 
woman  have  done,  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her." 
And  now  consider  what  usually  comes  of  self-asser- 
tion much  less  astounding  than  this  in  a  human  be- 
ing, and  what  actually  came  of  it  in  our  Lord's  case. 
The  greatest  of  the  world's  teachers  make  light  of 
themselves.  Socrates  treats  his  own  death  as  of  no 
moment.  The  Jewish  prophets  never  think  of  treat- 
ing their  own  careers  as  of  any  significance,  apart 
from  the  message  they  deliver.  And  as  a  rule  in  the 
world,  when  a  man  magnifies  himself  with  gentleness 
and  simplicity,  we  smile  ;  we  may  find  him  lovable, 
but  there  is  always  a  little  laughter  mingled  with  our 
love.  When  he  does  it  arrogantly  or  imperiously, 
we  are  revolted.  In  either  case,  the  first  generation 
which  does  not  personally  know  him  puts  aside  his 
pretensions  as  irrelevant,  if  not  even  fatal  to  his 
greatness.  But  how  was  it  with  Christ  ?  The  first 
great  follower  who  had  never  known  Him  in  the 
flesh,  St.  Paul,  takes  up  this  very  note  as  the  key- 
note of  the  new  world.  To  him,  "  to  live  is  Christ, 
to  die  is  gain."  His  heart  is  "  hid  with  Christ  in 
God."     His  cry  is,  "  not  I,  but  Christ  that  worketh 


FIRST   MONDAY.  31 

in  me."  He  makes  Lis  whole  religious  philosophy 
turn  on  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  that  He  is  the  Vine, 
and  His  disciples  the  branches.  In  the  land  of  the 
olive  St.  Paul  adapts  the  image  to  the  husbandry  of 
the  olive.  Again,  Christ  is  the  head,  and  men  are 
the  members.  And  what  is  true  of  St.  Paul  is  true 
of  all  those  in  whom  the  Christian  faith  has  shown 
its  highest  genius  in  subsequent  ages.  These  sayings 
of  Christ  as  to  being  Himself  the  centre  of  human 
affections  and  the  light  of  human  lives,  instead  of  re- 
pelling men,  interpret  their  own  highest  experience, 
and  seem  but  the  voice  of  an  interior  truth  and  the 
assurance  of  an  imperishable  joy. 

I  feel  that  I  may  love  Thee  as  the  Babe 
Of  Bethlehem's  manger,  as  the  wondrous  Boy 
Among  the  temple-doctors,  strangely  brave: 

As  He  who  gave 
The  wine  mysterious:  with  the  morning's  joy 

In  fisher-boats  upon  Tiberias'  sea, 
Or  with  Samaria's  daughter  at  the  well; 
Feeding  the  multitudes  who  followed  Thee; 
Or  patiently 
Teaching  high  truths  in  glowing  parable. 
Oh,  for  a  glance  of  thy  kind  human  face  ! 
Then  might  I  love  Thee  as  I  long  to  do. 
If  its  pure  lineaments  I  could  but  trace 
One  moment's  space. 
Would  not  my  bowed  affection  prove  more  true? 
Would  I  not  press,  like  Mary,  to  thy  feet, 


32         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Who  poured  the  perfumed  oil  with  reverend  touch? 
And  hear,  perchance,  Thy  gracious  lips  repeat, 
In  accents  sweet, 
*'  Her  sins  are  pardoned,  for  she  loveth  much." 
She  loveth  much,  O  wondering  heart  of  mine! 
When  shall  this  blest  assurance  be  thine  own  ? 
Saviour,  Redeemer,  human  yet  Divine, 
Each  throb  be  thine 
And  for  my  lack  may  Thy  great  love  atone ! 

T  ADORE,  I  praise  and  glorify  Thee,  and  I  give  thanks  to 
Thee,  O  Son  of  the  living  God,  most  gracious  Jesus,  that 
Thou  didst  preach  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  heal  the  sick,  raise 
the  dead,  and  do  many  wonderful  works  ;  graciously  con- 
versedst  with  men,  and  most  mercifully  comfortedst  them ;  and 
for  thirty-three  years  didst  endure  for  my  sake  many  labors, 
sorrows,  persecutions,  with  a  most  meek  and  lowly  heart;  that 
Thou  mightest  teach  me  most  fully  by  precept  and  example,  to 
live  justly  and  holily.  O  gracious  Saviour,  remember,  I  beseech 
Thee,  of  Thy  love  and  goodness,  remember  my  great  misery, 
and  have  mercy  upon  me  ;  sanctify  me  wholly;  give  me  full 
pardon  of  my  sins,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me;  grant 
that  I  may  imitate  Thy  humility,  resignation,  patience,  charity, 
and  all  Thy  virtues,  that  I  may  be  well  pleasing  to  Thee.  And 
may  Thy  holy  name  be  blessed  throughout  all  ages.     Amen. 


FIRST  TUESDAY.  83 


^iv$t  Cuejstiat. 


Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  is  come,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
is  risen  upon  thee. 

The  path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light,  that  shineth  more 
and  more  unto  the  perfect  day. 

Since  we  are,  one  and  all,  in  the  number  of  those 
to  whom  God  has  said,  "  Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light 
has  come,"  let  us  take  care  that  we  do  shine ;  that 
we  keep  our  souls,  like  a  clear  mirror,  free  from  the 
mists  and  stains  of  earth,  which  would  otherwise 
dim  the  glorious  image  of  the  Son  of  God,  offering 
Himself  to  be  reflected  in  them  continually.  When 
angels  look  down  on  the  regenerate  soul,  they  ex- 
pect to  see  it  all  bright  and  shining  with  a  purity 
something  like  their  own  ;  disregarding  what  might 
kindle  evil  desire,  and  turning  itself  night  and  day, 
towards  God,  with  reverential  love.  They  expect  to 
see  it  also  shining  with  cheerfulness ;  enlightened 
evermore  with  a  holy  and  religious  joy  ;  a  joy  in 
God,  like  that  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mother,  when 


34         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

she  knelt  beside  the  manger,  earnestly  beholding  and 
adoring  her  new-born  Babe.  Also  we  may  beheve 
that  the  holy  angels,  who  waited  near  Bethlehem  on 
the  first  Christmas  Day,  and  were  so  ready  and  eager 
with  their  songs  of  praise,  and  in  instructing  the 
shepherds  where  they  might  find  the  Babe, —  we  may 
well  believe  that  these  angels  expect  to  find  in  us, 
the  new-born  of  Christ,  a  certain  obedient  and  duti- 
ful alacrity,  a  quick  and  bright  way  of  going  on  from 
one  thing  to  another,  earnestly  seeking  out  and  ful- 
filling all  His  will.  And  this  may  be  part  of  the 
meaning  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  when  He  says  to  each  of 
us  by  the  Prophet,  "  Arise,  shine,"  as  who  should 
ask,  "  Are  you  not  a  Christian  ?  be  not  then  slothful 
and  languid  ;  arouse  yourself  ;  be  up  and  doing  in 
your  Lord's  service  ;  and  when  you  have  done  a  little, 
some  one  or  two  things,  do  not  stand  gazing  on  it, 
but  go  on  to  the  next  thing ;  stir  thyself  up  continu- 
ally, by  devout  and  thankful  meditation,  to  do  more 
and  more  for  Christ ;  this  is  the  way  to  arise  and 
shine  in  good  earnest."  Do  your  work  swiftly  and 
clearly,  but  as  silently  as  possible  :  after  the  manner 
of  rays  of  light,  which  come  from  the  sun  in  silence, 
with  inconceivable  speed,  straight  to  the  point  where 
God  intends  them  to  fall.  Such  should  our  work 
be ;  no  noise,  no  disturbance,  no  loitering  about  other 
and  meaner  things. 


FIRST  TUESDAY.  35 

Let  every  faithiful  heart  rejoice, 

Lift  up  its  hands  to  God  on  high, 
And  with  its  life  and  look  and  voice 

Tell  out  His  praises  worthily  ! 

Into  this  dark  world  Jesus  came 

That  all  eyes  might  his  form  behold. 

While  from  the  limits  of  its  frame 
He  passed,  —  that  we  might  be  consoled. 

To  all  He  showed  that  gentle  Face  ; 

On  good  and  bad  alike  it  shone  ; 
Its  radiant  loveliness  and  grace 

The  Lord  of  all  concealed  from  none. 

O  love  of  Christ  beyond  all  love  ! 

O  Clemency  beyond  all  thought  ! 
O  grace  all  praise  of  men  above 

Whereby  such  gifts  to  men  are  brought  ! 

O  Blessed  Face,  whose  light  we  sing, 
Here  on  our  way  we  worship  Thee, 

That  in  the  Country  of  our  King 
Filled  with  Thy  glory  we  may  be  ! 

TESTIS,  our  Master,  do  Thou  meet  us  while  we  walk  in  the 
way  and  long  to  reach  Thy  Country  ;  so  that  following  Thy 
light  we  may  keep  the  way  of  righteousness,  and  never  wander 
away  into  the  horrible  darkness  of  this  world's  night,  while 
Thou,  Who  art  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life,  art  shining 
within  us.     Amen, 


36         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^econu  (HL!et>ne0Da^. 


Fear  not,  little  flock,  for  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to 
give  you  the  kingdom. 

I  thank  Thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  that 
Thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast 
revealed  them  unto  babes. 

God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound 
the  things  which  are  mighty. 

Testimony  meets  us  in  all  parts  of  the  Gospel  to 
tlie  early  and  deliberately  announced  intention  of 
Christ  to  found  an  enduring  kingdom,  on  materials 
which  were  not  of  the  stuff  of  which  earthly  Gov- 
ernments are  made  ;  the  Moulder  of  which  did  not 
contemplate,  indeed,  steadily  refused  to  contemplate, 
conquering  within  any  assigned  period  the  help  of 
earthly  Governments  for  his  purpose,  or  making 
any  alliance  of  that  kind  an  essential  condition 
of  the  kingdom  which  He  proclaimed.  The  Jewish 
polity  was  a  spiritual  polity,  but  it  rested  on  an 
organization  which  wielded  all  the  recognized  powers 
of  the  State.  Christ  rejected  the  idea  of  directl}" 
availing  Himself  of  these  means,  and  declared  His 


SECOND   WEDNESDAY.  37 

purpose  to  use  means  so  unpromising  that,  in  the 
human  sense,  they  were  hardly  means  to  such  an  end 
at  all.  We  never  hear  without  the  thrill  of  a  new 
surprise  that  calm,  strange,  and  unique  prophecy, 
addressed  at  the  very  outset  of  His  short  career  to 
a  dozen  peasants,  "  Fear  not,  little  flock,  it  is  your 
Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom," 
when  we  remember  that  a  kingdom  has  really  been 
given  to  them,  though  not  a  kingdom  of  this  world. 
"  Follow  Me,"  He  said  to  one  or  two  couples  of  fish- 
ermen, as  they  cast  their  nets  into  the  waters,  and 
mended  them  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee, 
"  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of  men."  And  they 
were  made  fishers  of  men,  and  obviously  made  so 
solely  by  Him  Who  thus  chose  them  from  a  calling 
apparently  so  little  qualified  to  fit  them  for  the  hope- 
less task.  It  is  remarkable  enough  that  by  far  the 
greatest  of  the  Apostles,  —  he  in  whom  even  high 
human  insight  might  have  discerned  the  elements  of 
marvelous  force  and  moral  influence,  —  was  not 
chosen  for  his  work  during  Christ's  earthly  life.  The 
"  little  flock  "  to  whom  our  Lord  announces  so  early 
and  so  peremptorily  that  they  are  "  not  to  fear,"  be- 
cause it  is  their  "  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give 
them  the  kingdom,"  are  such  a  "  little  flock"  as  no  one 
before  ever  proposed  to  make  the  founders  of  a  new 
world.     Indeed,  Christ  asserts  repeatedly  that  they 


38         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

are  chosen  because  they  are  not  "  wise  and  prudent," 
because  they  are  "  babes,"  and  no  doubt  because  on 
that  very  account  they  are  not  likely  to  aim  at  the 
construction  of  an  ambitious  polity  ;  because  they 
have  no  sort  of  influence  which  would  give  them 
authority,  even  in  the  little  world  of  Judaea.  They 
are  anxiously  warned  against  any  sort  of  striving  to 
acquire  earthly  dignity.  Wealth  is  even  forbidden 
them.  They  are  promised  "  the  kingdom  "  in  the 
same  breath  in  which  they  are  told  to  sell  what  they 
have,  and  provide  for  themselves  bags  which  wax  not 
old,  "  a  treasure  in  the  heavens  which  faileth  not," 
in  order  that  "  where  their  treasure  is,  there  may 
their  hearts  be  also."  Moreover,  while  the  Apostles 
are  forbidden  all  the  ordinary  means  of  binding  to- 
gether a  great  earthly  organization,  they  are  told 
that  they  are  to  be  for  a  long  time  few  and  scattered 
sowers  of  division,  preachers  to  people  who  could  not 
or  would  not  understand.  "  The  harvest  truly  is 
plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  few."  The  kingdom 
is  not  to  be  a  popular  one,  in  that  time  at  least. 
Their  Master  speaks  to  the  multitude  in  parables, 
because  to  the  few  chosen  it  is  given  to  know  the 
mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  but  to  the  many  it 
is  not  given.  Yet  the  chosen  Apostles  themselves 
misunderstand  and  misinterpret  their  Master.  Peter, 
after  being  told  that  his   confession  is  the  rock  on 


SECOND  WEDNESDAY.  39 

which  the  Church  should  be  built,  is  spoken  of  as  a 
tempter  and  an  offense  to  his  Master,  as  one  who 
savors  not  of  the  things  which  are  of  God,  but  those 
which  are  of  men.  John  is  twice  rebuked,  once  for 
his  revengeful  spirit,  once  for  his  short-sighted  am- 
bition. Judas's  treachery  is  predicted.  All  the 
twelve  are  warned  that  they  will  fail  at  the  hour  of 
Christ's  trial.  In  a  word,  from  beginning  to  end  of 
the  Gospels  we  have  evidence  which  no  one  could 
have  managed  to  forge,  that  Christ  deliberately  chose 
materials  of  which  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
any  one  to  build  a  great  organization,  unless  he  could 
otherwise  provide,  and  continue  to  provide,  the  power 
by  which  that  organization  was  to  stand.  Who  can 
hear  the  words,  "  I  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth,  that  Thou  hast  hid  these  things 
from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them 
unto  babes,"  without  being  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously impressed  with  the  divine  confidence  of  the 
purpose  which  selected  what  we  should  have  thought 
the  least  promising  of  all  materials  for  the  most  ma- 
jestic and  enduring  of  works,  and  prove  their  fitness 
by  the  history  of  the  ages  ?  Now,  the  popular  be- 
lief in  Christianity  has  much  more  to  do  Avith  the 
vivid  impression  made  by  these  reiterated  and  em- 
phatic assertions,  ingrained  into  the  very  essence  of 
the  Gospel,  of   our  Lord's   intention  to  establish  a 


40         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

kingdom  out  of  elements  thus  humanly  hopeless, — 
than  with  any  learned  evidences.  Would  it  not  be 
something  incredible  that  a  mere  man  should  profess 
his  intention  to  establish  a  kingdom  which  shall  en- 
dure forever,  by  the  help  of  twelve  ignorant  men, 
who  will  not  even  keep  him  with  them  for  more  than 
a  year  or  two,  who  habitually  misunderstand  his 
words  and  mistake  his  spirit,  and  who  are  told  that 
they  are  destined  almost  involuntarily  to  drink  of  his 
cup  and  be  baptized  with  his  baptism,  in  spite  of 
misreading  the  sort  of  destiny  which  that  implies, 
and  the  kind  of  glory  to  which  it  leads,  —  and  then 
that  his  mere  prophetic  guess  should  be  so  far  ful- 
filled as  the  history  of  Christianity  has  fulfilled 
Christ's  prediction  at  this  day  ?  Is  there  not  here  a 
vision  of  what  would  be  to  man  an  impossible  future, 
on  the  partial  realization  of  which  the  popular  mind 
is  far  better  able  to  pass  a  trustworthy  judgment  than 
is  even  the  most  learned  mind  to  pass  judgment  on 
the  intricate  details  of  biographic  or  historic  evi- 
dence ?  Or  consider  only  what  is  implied  in  the 
words  of  the  Last  Supper.  Christ  announces,  what 
must  then  have  been  to  the  most  judicial  of  human 
minds  nothing  but  conjecture,  that  He  was  then  and 
there  to  give  up  His  life  for  the  world.  This  could 
not  have  taken  place  without  His  condemnation  by 
the  Roman  ruler,  against  whose  rule  He  had  been 


SECOND   WEDNESDAY.  41 

guilty  of  no  offense.  At  that  time,  it  can  scarcely 
have  seemed  even  probable  to  a  sober-minded  Jew, 
that  the  anger  of  the  Jewish  priesthood  should  bring 
about  such  a  result  at  all,  much  less  immediately. 
But  Christ  takes  it  so  absolutely  for  granted,  that 
He  speaks  of  the  bread  and  wine  as  symbols  of  His 
broken  Body  and  poured-out  Blood,  and  founds  upon 
the  similitude  a  New  Testament,  which  He  declares 
to  be  for  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  many.  And 
not  only  does  His  death  at  once  follow  as  He  pre- 
dicts, but  the  bread  and  wine  become  in  some  sense 
or  other  His  body  and  blood  to  future  centuries :  — 

Both  faith  and  art  have  given 
To  that  one  hour,  a  life  of  endless  rest, 
And  still,  whoe'er  would  taste  the  food  of  heaven, 
May  to  that  table  come  a  welcome  guest. 

Words  which,  coming  at  such  a  time  from  the  mouth 
of  an  ordinary  man  would  have  sounded  like  a  melan- 
choly conjecture  and  a  tender  metaphor,  prove  to 
have  been  in  Christ's  mouth  the  solid  foundation  of 
history  and  the  corner-stone  of  a  lasting  faith.  Now, 
surely,  the  popular  impression  of  these  facts  as  imply- 
ing that  our  Lord's  knowledge  had  its  roots  planted 
in  the  very  well-springs  of  the  world's  history  is,  to 
say  the  least,  infinitely  better  justified  by  reason  than 
any  inference,  however  judicial,  from  the  careful  sur- 
vey of  minute  historic  evidences  possibly  could  be. 


42         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

The  materials  of  the  building  are  not  only  intrinsic- 
ally frail,  but  it  is  the  Builder  Himself  who  selects 
them  because  they  are  so,  and  Who  yet  calmly  an- 
nounces that  the  building  shall  outlast  the  heavens. 
His  own  death  is  to  be  the  signal  of  defection  and 
despair  to  His  followers,  yet  it  is  to  be  the  firm  foun- 
dation of  an  eternal  structure  ;  and,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  no  sooner  is  His  visible  hand  withdrawn  than 
the  living  stones  run  from  all  quarters  of  the  earth, 
and  pile  themselves  into  the  temple  of  the  ages.  Is 
there  not  a  real  solidity  in  the  conviction  of  divine 
power  which  these  evidences  produce  ? 

Where  the  far-stretching  nave  and  glorious  choir 

With  stately  transepts  —  intersecting  —  blend, 

And  form  a  mighty  Cross,  I  see  ascend, 
As  with  a  leap  to  heaven,  the  tapering  spire. 
It  bids  me  lift  my  looks  and  longings  higher 

Than  this  world's  smoke  and  clouds,  to  let  them  tend 

To  yonder  azure  Home  and  gracious  Friend, 
And  set  on  things  above  my  heart's  desire. 
So,  resting  on  the  Cross  as  on  its  base. 

See  the  fair  fabric  of  religion  rise  — 
Truth  her  foundation  and  her  topstone  Grace. 

Thus,  ever  upwards  see  her  point  men's  eyes. 
Which  some  celestial  ladder  seem  to  trace  ; 

Its  foot  on  earth,  its  summit  in  the  skies. 


/^  GOD,  who  hast  taught  us  that  in  Thy  mysterious  Provi- 
dence  suffering  must  lead  to  glory  :  who  hast  placed  the 


SECOND   WEDNESDAY.  43 

Cross  before  the  Crown,  and  hast  made  much  tribulation  the 
entrance  to  Thy  heavenly  kingdom  :  may  we  learn  from  this 
Thy  will,  to  wait  for  our  deliverance  from  the  bondage  of  cor- 
ruption into  the  .glorious  liberty  of  Thy  children.  Hasten,  O 
Lord,  the  day  when  the  sons  of  God  shall  be  manifested,  and 
disappointment  and  decay  and  sin  shall  be  no  more.  Prepare 
the  way  of  Thy  coming,  O  Thou  who  art  the  desire  of  all  crea- 
tion and  the  delight  of  the  sons  of  men.  Set  up  Thy  sign  in 
the  heavens,  and  gather  thine  elect  from  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
Show  us  thy  glory,  and  change  us  into  Thy  perfect  image.  And 
thus  reveal  unto  us  the  treasures  which  Thou  hast  prepared  for 
them  that  love  Thee,  where  Thou  livest  and  reignest  with  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Sjpirit,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


44         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^econu  ZJ^m»Mv 


And  there  were  certain  Greeks  among  them,  that  came  up 
to  worship  at  the  Feast.  The  same  came  therefore  to  Philip, 
which  was  of  Bethsaida  of  Galilee,  and  desired  him,  saying, 
Sir,  we  would  see  Jesus. 

And  in  that  day  the  eyes  of  the  blind  shall  see  out  of  ob- 
scurity, and  out  of  darkness. 

We  shall  see  Him  as  He  is. 

One  disciple  writes  to  another,  "  I  am.  tired  and 
discouraged,  and  want  some  one  to  speak  or  write 
to  me  about  Christ  and  his  love  for  us  all."  Some 
of  us,  hearing  these  simple  words,  will  say,  "  How 
natural  that  is  !  I  have  felt  it  myself,  —  that  wear- 
iness and  discouragement ;  I  too  have  had  a  dim  yet 
deep  impression  that  belief  and  comfort  could  come 
to  me  only  from  the  Saviour  of  mankind  ;  and  so 
I  have  longed  to  have  some  stronger  soul,  who  had 
a  clearer  experience  and  brighter  visions  of  his  love 
than  mine,  tell  me  of  it ;  tell  me  of  its  power  ;  tell 
me  of  its  beauty  ;  tell  me  of  its  freeness,  its  abun- 
dance, its  patience,  its  sweet  and  satisfying  thoughts." 


SECOND   THURSDAY.  45 

It  must  have  been  this  feeling,  in  some  of  its  differ- 
ent degrees,  that  brought  many  of  his  first  followers 
to  Jesus.  John  the  Baptist  who  had  borne  the  sol- 
itude and  pain  of  his  great  prophetic  calling,  who 
was  "  tired  "  of  the  hollowness  of  courts  and  the 
frivolities  of  tlie  people,  and  "  discouraged  "  at  the 
slow  advances  of  the  latter  day  ;  St.  Matthew,  from 
the  market-place  ;  Simon  and  John,  from  their  nets 
and  boats,  on  the  Lake  of  Gahlee ;  Andrew  and 
Philip,  along  the  banks  of  the  Jordan;  Nathan- 
ael,  from  under  the  fig-tree;  the  Centurion,  from 
the  sick-bed  of  his  servant,  and  the  Syrophoenician 
woman  from  that  of  her  child ;  the  cultured  Greeks 
that  came  to  worship  at  the  Feast;  the  w^oman  of 
Samaria  in  the  midday  heat,  by  the  well;  the 
woman  that  all  the  city  knew  for  a  sinner,  unin- 
vited, pressing  through  the  formidable  barrier  of  the 
Pharisee's  door,  with  her  loosened  hair  and  the  ala- 
baster box  in  her  hand,  —  with  one  or  another  shade 
of  weariness  or  discouragement,  with  guilty  con- 
sciences, or  homesick  hearts,  or  unsatisfied  desires,  or 
bereavement,  or  unsuccessful  attempts  to  lead  a  right 
moral  life  of  themselves.  Prodigals  in  appetite  or 
intellect  or  self-will,  they  all  wanted  to  know  Christ 
and  his  love.  Something  told  them  He  could  com- 
fort them.  So  it  has  been  with  all  the  innumer- 
able  souls   ever   since,   in   all   the  generations   and 


16         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

lands  of  the  world,  who  have  arisen  from  their 
separate  places  and  have  been  formed  into  the 
mighty  company  of  the  faithful ;  in  some  sense  or 
other,  they  were  unsatisfied,  empty-hearted,  "dis- 
couraged" with  themselves,  before  they  began  to 
long  and  listen  for  the  love  that  Jesus  only  could 
give.  They  did  not  come  with  some  predetermined 
theory  of  life  or  of  religion  and  demand  that  the 
word  of  Heaven  should  be  set  square  to  that ;  they 
did  not  la}^  down  their  Grecian  philosophy,  their 
scientific  conclusions,  their  Pantheistic  or  Platonic 
speculations,  or  even  their  system  of  natural  laws, 
and  ask  that  the  way  of  salvation  should  be  con- 
formed to  that.  They  never  would  have  faith  that 
way  if  they  had.  For  lo  !  here  was  the  Son  of  God. 
The  peace  they  wanted  was  that  which  passe th  all 
their  understanding.  Their  intellectual  conceit  and 
self-confidence  was  the  very  illusion  they  were 
"tired"  of,  and  they  had  first  to  become  like  little 
children  with  new  hearts,  believing  and  praying  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom. 

But  others,  if  the  same  thing  were  said  to  them, 
"I  am  tired  and  discouraged,  and  want  to  see  and 
to  know  Christ,"  would  wonder  at  it.  Some  secret 
link  is  wanting  to  connect  their  feeling  with  that 
confession.  These  are  the  same  persons  who,  when 
we  say  our  general  confession,  do  not  feel  it  to  be 


SECOND   THURSDAY.  47 

their  confession,  and  do  not  say  it  with  their  heart 
of  hearts, — that  they  are  "lost  sheep,"  and  have 
become  so  by  following  their  "  own  devices  and  de- 
sires;" that  there  is  "no  health"  in  them;  and 
that  they  are  "  miserable  offenders."  "  Tired  "  they 
are  not ;  for  the  energies  of  both  body  and  mind  are 
still  full  of  vigor;  "discouraged"  they  are  not;  for 
money,  luxury,  social  position,  admiration,  the  fash- 
ionable world,  still  seem  worth  pursuing,  and  the 
pursuit  is  keen  and  fascinating,  as  of  those  who  run 
for  a  visible  prize,  in  a  bracing  air.  They  do  not 
want  to  be  told  of  Christ,  or  to  "  see  Jesus,"  because 
they  have  no  reason  to  believe  He  would  help  them 
to  their  darling  objects  ;  and  these,  for  the  present, 
are  enough. 

Of  this  superficial  satisfaction  it  is  enough  to  say 
now  that  being  dependent  on  the  frailest  of  condi- 
tions, it  never  lasts  long ;  that  any  one  of  a  thou- 
sand common  changes  upsets  and  scatters  it ;  that 
when  it  is  thus  dispersed  the  wretchedness  which  it 
leaves  behind  is  the  saddest  in  the  world  ;  and  that 
even  while  it  continues  it  is  never  associated  with 
the  nobler  traits  of  human  character,  and  never 
wins  the  profound  respect  even  of  the  world  itself 
in  which  it  eats,  drinks,  and  is  merry. 

And  hence,  the  untiring  and  unceasing  work  of 
God's  compassion  on  earth  is  to  bring  human  hearts 


48         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

over,  from  the  one  of  these  classes  to  the  other  :  out 
of  unconcern  to  the  hearty  longing  for  Christ,  —  for 
his  love,  his  grace,  his  life.  It  is  to  stir  and  awaken 
that  desire,  which  never  is  despised  if  it  is  sincere, 
and  never  disappointed  if  it  is  persevering.  For 
this  the  Holy  Spirit  keeps  up  his  inward  and  invisi- 
ble solicitation,  speaking  through  the  conscience.  For 
this  the  Providential  plan  of  each  individual  life  is 
shaped  and  carried  on,  with  its  daily  discipline. 
For  this  the  Prophets  rebuke,  the  Apostles  teach, 
the  Martyrs  die.  For  this  the  Scriptures  are  writ- 
ten, the  Gospel  is  preached,  the  Church  is  planted 
and  extended,  the  Sacraments  are  ministered,  the 
Prayers  are  offered.  For  this,  —  all  ye  whose  groans 
are  relieved  or  smothered,  —  whose  tears  fall  or  are 
forced  back  upon  their  fountains  in  fear  or  shame,  — 
whose  houses  are  desolate,  whose  springs  of  joy  are 
dry  as  summer-dust,  whose  career  is  a  failure,  and 
whose  ambition  is  dead,  — for  this  you  are  '*  tired 
and  discouraged,"  scourged  and  lonely,  —  that  you 
might  "  want "  some  voice  to  "  speak  to  you  about 
Christ  and  his  love  :  "  nay,  that  you  might  want 
to  see  Jesus  himself.  Blessed  are  they  in  whom 
the  sorrow  is  not  comfortless,  but  for  whom  it  is 
only  the  cruciform  tree  which  yieldeth  the  peaceable 
fruit ! 

Coming  to  that  "  valley  of  Achor,"  and  finding 


SECOND   THURSDAY.  49 

it  to  be  thus  "  a  door  of  hope,"  your  heart  will  stand 
just  where  the  disciple  mentioned  at  the  outset  stood, 
with  a  peculiar  mixture  of  two  contending  feelings : 
"  tired  "  with  unsatisfactory  attempts  and  "  discour- 
aged "  with  standards  of  duty  not  overtaken  but  fly- 
ing a  long  distance  before,  —  and  yet,  in  the  midst  of 
this  unrest,  having  a  deep  trust  within,  the  foreshin- 
ing  of  an  immortal  hope,  that  Christ  and  his  love  are 
realities  after  all  which  may  he  found.  Somewhere, 
they  can  be  found.  Some  tongue  can  tell  about 
them.  "  Tell  me,  oh  Thou  whom  my  soul  loveth, 
where  thou  feedest,  where  thou  makest  thy  flock  to 
rest  at  noon." 

There  is  a  secret  conviction  that  all  help  and  light 
and  consolation  can  come  only  from  the  Saviour ; 
yet  there  is  a  yearning  for  some  outward  assist- 
ance in  reaching  Him.  There  is  uneasiness,  yet  an 
interior  prophecy  of  the  Lamb  of  God  who  can  sat- 
isfy it.  There  is  a  kind  of  faith  in  the  Cross  and 
the  Crucified ;  yet  there  is  a  gulf  of  separation 
needing  to  be  bridged  before  the  precious  redemp- 
tion can  fill  the  soul  with  peace.  In  a  word,  Christ, 
the  Sacrifice,  is  felt  to  be  the  only  living  "  Way,"  and 
yet  there  seems  to  be  needed  a  way  first  unto  that 
"  Way." 

So  I  have  heard  a  careful  and   enterprising  man 
of  business,  accustomed  to  exact  and  practical  habits, 
4 


50         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

being  struck  down  with  disease,  laid  aside  from  all 
his  eager  plannings,  after  clearly  acknowledging  his 
mistake,  and  bitterly  lamenting  that  neglect  of  many 
opportunities  which  had  wasted  two  score  years  that 
belonged  to  his  Master,  to  go  on  and  say :  "  What 
I  want  now  is  to  see,  to  feel,  to  realize  Christ ;  I 
want  Him  made  very  real  to  me  ;  I  want  to  be  con- 
scious of  his  presence,  and  sure  of  his  hand.  This 
is  all  that  is  wanting.  I  am  heartily  sorry  for  these 
my  misdoings,  and  I  repent  of  them.  I  trust  my 
unworthy  offering  is  accepted,  and  my  pardon 
sealed.  I  am  sure  I  mean  to  glorify  God  in  the 
little  remnant  of  a  life  that  is  left  me.  But  I  want, 
chiefly  and  unspeakably,  to  see  and  feel  Jesus  Christ 
with  me." 

That  will  come,  according  to  the  promise,  —  "I 
and  my  Father  will  come  to  him,  —  if  any  man  open 
the  door."  The  reason  it  comes  slowly  is,  that  long 
courses  of  habit  have  turned  the  eyes  another  way, 
and  dulled  their  vision.  They  are  now,  thank  God, 
touched  and  anointed  by  the  Heavenly  Hand  which 
giveth  light ;  but  at  first  they  only  "  see  men  as 
trees  walking,"  and  not  the  Son  of  man  himself, 
preeminent  in  power  and  glory,  and  near  at  hand. 
This  new  disciple  must  walk  some  way  out  from  the 
Jerusalem  of  his  conversion  to  the  Emmaus  where 
there  is  the  breaking  of  bread,  before  he  thoroughly 


SECOND  THURSDAY.  51 

beholds  the  Saviour,  "  as  with  open  face."  There 
have  been  many  negUgences ;  in  prayer,  in  obe- 
dience, in  all  the  holy  discipline  and  pious  acts  of 
character  and  ordinance.  Perhaps  even  yet  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  not  approached ; 
or  some  other  enjoined  means  of  closer  union  with 
Christ  is  not  faithfully  used.  The  way,  then,  to 
tliis  nearer,  fuller,  and  more  completely  satisfying 
fellowship  and  oneness  with  the  Master  is  the  way 
Christ  has  opened  in  His  Church  ;  it  is  by  the  altar 
of  sacrifice  ;  it  is,  while  leaving  no  moral  com- 
mandment unlearned,  to  throw  open  all  the  win- 
dows of  the  soul  for  the  breath  and  sunlight  of  the 
Spirit ;  to  let  faith  be  free  and  unhindered  ;  to 
take  up  whatever  cross  lies  in  the  path  ;  to  wait 
patiently  and  thankfully  on  Him  who  never  forgets  : 
—  thankfully  for  what  is  already  given,  —  patiently, 
as  the  husbandman  waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit 
of  the  earth,  through  the  latter  as  well  as  the  early 
rain. 

The  way,  therefore,  to  the  clearer  and  more  com- 
forting vision  of  the  Lord's  face  is  threefold.  De- 
tach the  heart  from  every  distracting  object.  Keep 
it  open,  watching,  waiting,  looking  for  Him.  And, 
while  there  is  any  strength  for  charitable  work,  arise 
straightway  and  do  it,  in  His  name. 


62         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

We  would  see  Jesus!  we  have  longed  to  see  Him 
Since  first  the  stoiy  of  His  love  was  told ; 

We  would  that  He  might  sojourn  now  among  us, 
As  once  He  sojourned  with  the  Jews  of  old. 

We  would  behold  Him,  as  He  wandered  lowly, 
No  room  for  Him,  too  often,  in  the  inn; 

Behold  that  life,  the  beautiful,  the  holy, 
And  only  sinless  in  this  world  of  sin. 

We  would  see  Jesus !  we  would  have  Him  with  us, 
A  guest  beloved,  and  honored  at  our  board; 

How  blessed  were  our  bread  if  it  were  broken 
Before  the  sacred  presence  of  our  Lord. 

We  would  see  Jesus !  we  would  have  Him  with  us, 
Friend  of  our  households  and  our  children  dear. 

Who  still,  should  death  or  sorrow  come  among  us, 
Would  hasten  to  us,  and  would  touch  the  bier. 

We  would  see  Jesus  not  alone  in  sorrow. 

But  we  would  have  Him  with  us  in  our  mirth ; 

He,  at  whose  right  hand  there  are  joys  forever. 
Doth  not  disdain  to  bless  the  joys  of  earth. 

We  would  see  Jesus !  but  the  wish  is  faithless ; 

Thou  still  art  with  us,  who  hast  loved  us  well; 
Thy  blessed  promise,  "  I  am  with  you  always," 

Is  ever  faithful,  O  Immanuel. 

/^  HOLY  and  most  merciful  Lord,  the  Ught  of  the  world, 

who  didst  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind  when  they  prayed 

unto  Thee,  giving  them  sight,  bid  Thou  our  darkness  flee  away. 


SECOND   THURSDAY.  53 

remove  the  dimness  from  our  vision  of  Thee  and  of  Thy  heav- 
enly things,  correct  the  wanderings  of  our  desires,  and  lead 
us  so  safely  through  the  dangerous  places  of  this  world  that 
finally  we  may  behold  Thy  Face  in  glory.  Grant  this,  O  Thou 
who  livest  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  world  without 
end.     Amen. 


64         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^econn  fti^av* 


And  looking  up  to  heaven  He  sighed  and  said,  Ephphatha, 
that  is,  Be  opened  ! 

When  Jesus  therefore  saw  her  weeping,  and  the  Jews  also 
weeping,  which  came  with  her,  He  groaned  in  the  spirit  and 
was  troubled,  and  said.  Where  have  ye  laid  him?  They  said 
unto  Him,  Lord,  come  and  see.  Jesus  wept.  Then  said  the 
Jews,  Behold,  how  He  loved  him  ! 

OuK  Lord  was  on  tlie  eve  of  healing  a  poor  suf- 
ferer disabled  in  two  of  his  bodily  faculties.  *'  They 
bring  unto  Him  one  that  was  deaf  and  had  an  im- 
pediment in  his  speech,  and  they  beseech  Him  to  put 
His  hand  upon  them."  Christ  knew  His  own  power. 
Why  did  He  sigh?  In  a  few  moments,  this  im- 
prisoned mind  will  be  rejoicing  in  the  full  restoration 
and  liberty  of  its  action.  And  certainly  there  was 
no  occasion  for  sadness  in  the  faith  of  the  friends 
who  brought  the  man  to  the  Healer's  feet.  For 
nothing  in  all  the  offices  of  friendship  is  more  pre- 
cious to  Him  than  its  intercessions.  At  the  same 
instant,  too,  that  He  sighed  He  was  looking  up  to 


SECOND   FRIDAY.  55 

Heaven,  to  the  Father  with  whom  His  communion 
was  perfect.  Why,  then,  should  He  sigh  ?  Or,  just 
as  He  was  to  give  back  Lazarus  to  life,  why  should 
He  weep  ? 

There  can  be  but  one  answer.  In  all  common 
sights  Christ  saw  more  than  our  common  eyes  can 
see..  To  Him  everything^  whether  in  nature  or  in 
man,  in  lilies  or  in  sparrows,  in  a  poor  widow's  mites 
of  charity,  in  cups  of  cold  water,  in  seed-grain,  and 
fishing-nets,  and  pieces  of  money,  —  everything  was 
set  into  divine  connections  and  bore  some  spiritual 
meaning.  To  a  religious  eyesight  every  place  is 
filled  with  God,  and  stands  related  to  a  divine  pur- 
pose. So  looking  on  this  sad  victim  of  disorder,  or 
on  the  tomb  at  Bethany,  Jesus  is  reminded  of  all  the 
load  of  miseries  and  maladies  in  our  suffering  Race. 
His  thought  passes  from  the  one  case  of  wretched- 
ness before  Him  to  the  vast  accumulations  of  phys- 
ical sickness  and  anguish,  which  sometimes  make 
the  earth  itself  look  like  a  hospital,  to  the  proces- 
sion of  pale  and  aching  sufferers  as  they  lengthen 
down  the  ages.  It  would  have  been  so  with  Him 
if  he  had  been  visibly,  as  he  certainly  has  been 
actually,  present,  with  the  circles  of  mourners  here 
when  we  buried  our  dead  or  watched  by  the  sick. 
Would  not  His  searching  thought  go  behind  all  this 
mortal  discord,  and  penetrate  the  moral  sources  of 


56         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

it  ?  He  sees  that,  back  in  its  deep  root  and  secret 
origin,  not  only  death  but  disease  comes  by  sin ; 
that  as  sure  as  there  is  agony,  God's  good  law  must 
somewhere  have  been  broken.  "  The  sting  of  death 
is  sin."  To  be  sure,  we  cannot,  in  individual  cases, 
trace  out  the  exact  line  of  causation  and  effect : 
we  should  only  commit  cruel  blunders  if  we  tried 
to  connect  every  instance  of  suffering  with  direct 
and  personal  transgression :  yet  none  the  less  true 
it  is, — as  the  Gospel,  from  Genesis,  and  even  on 
to  the  great  anthems  of  redemption  in  the  Apoc- 
alypse of  St.  John,  assures  us,  that  outward  dis- 
tress is  only  the  shudder  of  humanity  rent  asunder 
from  God's  blessed  will,  and  struggling  under  the 
violation  of  His  ordinances  of  mercy.  It  is  the  inar- 
ticulate wail  of  sin.  We  are  not  isolated  individ- 
uals in  this  world,  each  having  only  his  own  separate 
path  through  it,  but  we  are  bound  together ;  we 
ache  with  each  other's  infirmities,  and  with  hered- 
itary maladies  ;  we  all  bear  vicarious  sufferings.  In 
the  groan  of  every  ailing  body  the  Saviour  heard  an 
echo  of  the  retributive  lamentation  of  the  whole 
groaning  and  travailing  creation  in  its  pain,  crying 
out  for  His  Cross,  and  waiting  for  the  manifestation 
of  the  sons  of  God.  What  wonder  if  He  sighed  with 
it  ?  All  this  suffering,  these  stripes.  He  must  take 
up,  in  the  wonderful  capacity  and  fullness  of  His  rec- 


SECOND   FRIDAY.  57 

onciling  work,  into  His  loving  and  glorious  person. 
More  than  once,  these  premonitions  of  the  Garden  and 
Calvary  fell  upon  Him ;  as  He  came  to  the  burial- 
place  at  Bethany,  —  as  He  was  on  the  eve  of  working 
those  very  miracles  where  His  perfect  mastery  over 
every  kind  of  evil  seemed  to  be  proved,  —  He  was 
sad  at  heart,  He  sighed,  and  He  wept.  Can  there  be 
any  human  heart  among  us  that,  seeing  this,  does  not 
feel  some  motion  of  gratitude  and  trust  towards 
Him? 

Again,  this  expression  of  His  sadness  shows  how 
perfectly  Christ  was  man.  Beholding  only  the  dis- 
plays of  his  miracle-working  Omnipotence,  seeing 
the  winds  and  the  sea,  the  sick  and  the  dead,  obey 
Him,  vigorous  life  flushing  again  through  the  pale- 
ness and  stiffness  of  death  just  as  light  and  motion 
did  through  the  universe  on  the  morning  of  the  first 
creation,  we  might  fix  our  attention  only  on  His 
supernatural  majesty,  and  so  lose  the  tender  sense 
of  His  human  oneness  with  ourselves.  But  the  sound 
of  this  sigh, —  such  as  only  a  human  breast  could 
heave,  —  the  sight  of  tears  such  as  only  a  nature 
fashioned  in  all  points  like  our  own  could  shed,  — 
this  brings  Him  to  our  side.  We  look  into  those 
moistened  eyes,  and  believe  Him.  We  lean  on  that 
sighing  breast,  and  are  at  peace  with  Him.  We 
know  that  He  was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we 


58         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

are,  that  He  might  succor  us  when  we  are  tempted. 
Though  the  awful  authority  of  Heaven  and  Earth 
is  in  His  hand,  there  is  compassion  in  His  heart. 
We  have  not  an  High  Priest  that  cannot  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities.  We  know  in 
whom  we  have  believed,  and  that  being  made 
like  unto  ourselves  He  is  not  ashamed  to  call  us 
brethren. 

We  are  brought,  then,  to  the  import  of  this  inci- 
dent to  ourselves.  First,  it  discovers  to  us  the  true 
character  of  Christian  sympathy,  as  being  something 
far  beyond  a  mere  soft  and  sentimental  instinct  of 
nature.  Half  the  time  sympathy  is  sought,  and  is 
given,  only  as  a  superficial  luxury  of  weak  natures  ; 
only  as  a  timid  escape  from  God's  strong  and  saving 
discipline.  But  in  the  Son  of  God  perfect  tender- 
ness is  balanced  with  the  highest  power.  This  is  the 
complete  manliness  of  Jesus.  The  Church  has  no 
need  of  Mariolatry ;  for  in  her  Divine  Lord  she 
presents  us  all  the  gentleness  and  pity  of  woman. 
Still  less  than  she  wants  virgin-worship  does  she 
want  a  heathen  hero-worship ;  for  courage,  magnan- 
imity, calm  endurance,  patient  sacrifice  of  self,  — 
all  the  possible  elements  of  heroic  greatness  have 
also  their  manifestation  and  harmony  in  Him.  Hence 
His  object  is  not  so  much  to  confer  a  little  tran- 
sient, shallow  comfort  on  our  uneasy  nerves  or  limbs. 


SECOND  FRIDAY.  59 

as  to  accomplish  the  deep  and  inward  cure  which 
sets  us  in  lasting  reconciliation  with  God,  takes  sin 
away,  and  brings  the  peace  that  the  world  can  never 
give.  '^  Be  healed  of  thy  passion,  thy  selfishness, 
thy  wicked  will,"  He  seems  to  say,  "  and  then  no 
matter  for  this  temporary  aching  of  the  flesh."  Even 
His  miracles  of  bodily  blessing  are  only  symbols  of 
His  redeeming  truth  and  spirit,  cleansing  and  quick- 
ening the  soul.  What  we  really  want  of  the  fellow- 
feeling  of  our  friends  is  not  only  that  it  should  come 
down  to  the  level  where  we  are,  and  palliate  the 
pain ;  but  that  it  should  strengthen  us  for  a  holier 
submission,  and  so  nerve  us  and  lift  us  on  for  a 
nobler  life  in  the  future. 

Again,  this  brief  gliuipse  of  the  text  into  the  soul 
of  the  Master  shows  us  the  Christian  ministry  of 
sorrow.  We  need  not  be  ashamed  either  of  the  feel- 
ing or  of  the  natural  exercise  of  it.  That  is  a  false 
ambition,  not  true  manhood.  Our  Gospel  is  kinder, 
as  well  as  profounder,  than  Paganism.  Jesus  sighs, 
and  thereby  the  sighing  soul  of  mankind  is  invig- 
orated. He  comes,  groaning  in  spirit,  to  Lazarus's 
grave,  and  we  are  sure  that  God  Almighty  is  a  God 
All-True  and  merciful.  He  sheds  a  patriot's  tears 
over  His  nation  and  its  superb  Jerusalem,  and  we 
learn  from  it  the  glorious  truth  that  our  religion  em- 
braces every  genial  emotion  and  genuine  interest  of 


60         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

man,  so  that  a  country's  terrible  anguish  for  her  law 
and  her  liberty  is  justified,  and  the  loyalty  of  her 
sons  and  daughters  is  acceptable  to  God. 

Here  are  two  kinds  of  happiness.  One  is  on  the 
surface.  It  comes  of  a  favorable  temperament,  of 
gratified  desires,  of  uniform  prosperity.  It  is  easily 
unsettled.  Few  have  it  unmixed.  Fewer  still  keep 
it.  The  other  is  a  happiness  attained  through  dis- 
cipline, born  in  some  conflict,  the  fruit  of  suffering, 
staying  by  till  the  shadows  flee  forever  away.  This 
is  what  gives  some  persons  spiritual  influence  and 
ascendancy  over  others.  We  never  value  those  people 
very  much  as  our  comforters  who  have  never  known 
what  it  was  to  bear  pain,  and  to  sit  in  dark  places 
themselves.  It  is  because  Christ  was  alone  with 
the  Tempter  in  the  wilderness,  that  He  helps  us 
every  day,  where  the  Tempter  is  trying  to  make  a 
wilderness  of  our  life.  It  is  because  He  proceeds  in- 
stantly from  sighing  for  the  sick  man  to  acting  for 
him,  that  we  know  sjnnpathy  is  not  meant  to  waste 
itself  in  mere  feeling,  but  to  stimulate  our  active 
energies  for  useful  service.  It  is  because  He  sighs, 
even  while  He  looks  up  to  heaven,  because  His  soul 
is  sorrowful  and  exceeding  heavy,  even  unto  death, 
amidst  the  triumphs  of  the  Garden,  with  the  angel 
strengthening  Him,  that  we  find  no  inconsistency 
between   a  healthy   and   resigned   sorrow  here  and 


SECOND  FRIDAY.  61 

.    that  faith  in  God  which  is  still  the  victory  that  over- 
cometh  the  world. 

Give  no  place  to  that  irreligious  sorrow  which  does 
not  look  up  to  heaven,  but  only  sighs  on  earth. 
Grief  has  two  comforters,  two  angels  that  sit  in  the 
empty  tomb  ;  the  prayer  of  faith,  and  work,  for  suf- 
fering men. 

But,  give  just  as  little  place  to  an  un sympathizing 
religion.  If  the  other  is  the  world  separating  itself 
from  faith,  this  is  faith  separating  itself  from  the 
world.  Selfishness  will  never  sit  at  the  Master's  feet 
by  hiding  itself  in  chambers,  or  flying  to  the  desert. 
He  will  have,  at  the  great  love-feast  of  His  Church, 
not  fastidious  disciples,  not  dainty  hands,  not  dreamy 
devotees,  making  a  fancy  of  their  worship  or  their 
creed,  but  such  resolute,  self-denying,  and  holy  souls 
as  are  ready  to  follow  Him  steadfastly  whithersoever 
He  goeth.  All  sorrow,  all  faith,  all  work  are  recon- 
ciled in  Him.  For  He  sighs,  he  looks  up  to  heaven, 
and  then  He  opens  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  and  loosens 
their  tongues,  for  His  praise.  He  weeps,  and  then 
exclaims,  "  Lazarus,  come  forth,"  to  live  and  work 
once  more.  Nay,  He  groans  in  the  Garden,  and  cries 
out  at  the  cross  ;  and  thus  He  passes  to  open  the 
doors  of  the  grave  and  the  gates  of  the  resurrection 
morning,  for  all  that  beheve  and  live  and  labor  in 
Him. 


62         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

The  deaf  may  hear  the  Saviour's  voice ; 

The  fettered  tongue  its  chain  may  break ; 
But  the  deaf  heart,  the  dumb  by  choice, 

The  sluggard  soul  that  will  not  wake, 
The  guilt  that  scorns  to  be  forgiven,  — 

These  baffle  even  the  cures  of  heaven  ! 

/^  LORD  Almighty,  we  beseech  Thee  to  have  mercy  upon 
us  Thy  servants,  whose  souls  are  too  like  unto  them  that 
Ue  in  the  grave.  Open  our  eyes  to  behold  Thy  wonders.  Open 
our  ears  to  hear  Thy  Word.  Loosen  our  tongues  that  we  may 
bear  faithful  witness  for  Thee  in  the  face  of  a  foolish  and 
vain  world,  and  evermore  lift  up  our  prayers  and  praises  unto 
Thee.  Raise  us  up  from  the  death  of  sin  unto  the  life  of 
righteousness.     Amen. 


SECOND  SATURDAY.  63 


^econD  ^aturDat- 


Wash  you,  make  you  clean ;  put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings 
from  before  mine  eyes;  cease  to  do  evil;  learn  to  do  well;  seek 
judgment,  relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless,  plead  for 
the  widow. 

Furthermore  then  we  beseech  you,  brethren,  and  exhort  you 
by  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  as  ye  have  received  of  us  how  ye  ought 
to  walk  and  to  please  God,  so  ye  would  abound  more  and  more. 

But  ye,  brethren,  are  not  in  darkness,  that  that  day  should 
overtake  you  as  a  thief. 

Ye  are  all  the  children  of  light,  and  the  children  of  the  day; 
we  are  not  of  the  night,  nor  of  darkness. 

Therefore  let  us  not  sleep,  as  do  others;  but  let  us  watch  and 
be  sober. 

It  is  an  inadequate  conception  of  the  Christian 
life  to  suppose  it  to  be  the  mere  quickening  of  the 
emotional  part  of  our  nature,  or  the  stirring  up  of 
our  imaginations.  We  may  drive  one  part  of  our 
nature  faster  than  another  part  can  follow.  There 
are  some  of  dull  sensibility  to  whom  the  discipline 
is  eminently  salutary  of  quickening  the  emotions. 
Those,  too,  who  are  engaged  in  busy  and  active  life, 


64         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

may  employ  the  same  discipline  with  the  greatest 
advantage ;  but  there  may  be  others  for  whom  there 
is  a  danger  of  raising  the  emotional  part  to  God,  and 
leaving  the  rest  behind.  Do  we  not  hear  it  said  by 
the  world  that  a  religious  man  is  not  always  a  better 
man  ;  that  a  man  who  calls  himself  religious  is  not 
in  his  dealings  always  the  most  straightforward,  the 
most  honest  and  fair,  the  most  incapable  of  taking 
advantage  in  a  bargain,  the  most  truthful  in  his 
words,  the  most  charitable  in  his  thoughts  of  others, 
the  most  watchful  to  repress  every  unkind  act,  the 
most  self-denying  and  careful  to  repress  all  self-in- 
dulgence ?  Is  there  no  truth  in  this  which  the  world 
sometimes  says  ?  Is  it  not  the  experience  of  any  chap- 
lain, that  he  cannot  trust  those  men  who  seem  most 
impressed  by  his  speaking,  and  who  are  ready  to  ex- 
press, in  ardent  words,  their  sense  of  the  benefit  they 
derive  from  him  ?  Do  not  those  of  us  who  come  in 
contact  with  a  young  man  who  has  fallen  astray, 
sometimes  feel  a  morbid  horror  of  cant,  if  we  hear 
him  expressing  too  eloquently  his  repentance  and  his 
desire  to  improve  ?  Not  that  we  of  necessity  suppose 
him  to  be  consciously  insincere  ;  but  we  know  how 
often  feeling  dies  away  without  ever  becoming  a 
practical  spring  of  action.  We  may  take  a  lesson 
from  our  Lord  Himself.  Is  it  not  remarkable  how 
large  a  space  of  His  discourses  was  occupied  in  re- 


SECOND   SATURDAY.  65 

proving  the  religious  world  ?  It  was  the  Pharisees 
who,  in  an  age  of  unbelief,  when  even  the  future  life 
was  denied,  and  the  existence  of  angels  and  spirits 
disputed,  set  their  hearts  on  the  unseen,  and  delighted 
to  make  long  prayers.  What  we  must  do  if  we  would 
deepen  the  divine  life  within  us,  is  constantly  to  set 
Christ  before  us,  and  refer  to  Him  in  everything 
we  do.  Do  we  not  feel,  when  we  have  an  honored 
guest  in  our  house,  that  we  desire  to  suppress  every- 
thing unseemly,  and  put  ourselves,  so  to  speak,  on 
our  best  behavior  ?  And  when  are  we  on  our  worst 
behavior  ?  When  there  is  no  one,  no  one  but  God, 
to  watch  what  we  are  doing.  Do  we  really  live  as 
in  the  sight  of  God  ?  To  live  in  His  presence  is 
indeed  an  immense  comfort  in  time  of  trouble.  We 
turn  to  Him  in  time  of  danger,  but  if  we  turn  to 
Him  only  then,  is  that  really  living  the  life  that  real- 
izes the  presence  of  God?  Those  speculative  diffi- 
culties, which  have  been  raised  as  to  the  answer  to 
prayer,  are  difficulties  for  which  men  who  call  them- 
selves religious  are  often  responsible.  The  priests  of 
former  days  professed  to  be  able  to  teach  those  who 
employed  their  services  how  by  prayer  they  could 
gain  for  themselves  the  good  things  of  this  life.  And 
now  that  men  of  science  declare  that  they  are  able  to 
teach  better  ways  of  gaining  this  end,  prayer  is  put 
forward  as  a  means  of  gaining  the  good  things  of 


QQ  NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

another  life.  But  if  prayer  is  supposed  to  have  no 
nobler  end,  we  must  expect  men  to  raise  questions  as 
to  its  efficacy.  Is  the  hungering  and  thirsting  after 
righteousness,  of  which  the  Bible  speaks,  to  hunger 
and  thirst  merely  after  the  rewards  of  righteousness  ? 
What  should  we  think,  if  we  could  go  to  another 
planet  and  hear  a  teacher  enforcing  the  duty  of  eat- 
ing and  drinking,  and  informing  the  people  how  the 
tissues  of  the  body  are  wasted  by  work  ?  Should  we 
not  say  that  the  men,  for  whom  all  this  was  neces- 
sary, had  no  conception  of  what  hunger  or  thirst 
was  ?  If  we  try  to  bring  Christ  before  us,  and  live 
close  to  Him,  we  shall  feel  how  far  we  are  from  being 
like  Him,  and  we  shall  feel  a  longing  hunger  to  be 
more  like  Him.  To  realize  the  Incarnation  is  the 
necessary  antidote  to  the  skepticism  of  physical  sci- 
ence, which  impresses  us  with  the  pitilessness  of 
physical  force,  and  almost  renders  us  incapable  of 
conceiving  God  as  a  God  of  love,  unless  we  know 
Him  as  manifest  in  the  flesh.  Remember,  then,  that 
every  time  the  thought  of  Christ  puts  from  us  one 
temptation,  every  time  an  impure  thought  is  sup- 
pressed by  the  thought  of  His  purity,  every  time 
an  unkind  word  or  angry  speech  is  checked  by  the 
thought  of  His  meekness,  every  time  some  self-in- 
dulgence is  put  aside  by  the  thought  of  His  self- 
denial,  the  very  life  of  God  gains  depth  and  power 
in  our  souls. 


SECOND   SATURDAY.  67 

The  cloud  whicli  nearest  to  the  moon  doth  lie 
Shineth  the  brightest  in  the  midnight  sky; 

The  pathway  of  that  Christian  is  most  bright 
Which  cleaveth  closest  unto  Christ  the  Light. 

r\  HEAVENLY  Father,  who  art  the  God  of  all  power  and 
all  peace,  give  us  a  perfect  command  over  all  our  passions 
and  affections,  that  they  being  subject  to  our  will,  and  our  will 
to  Thine,  we  may  never  fall  into  any  violent  transports  or  vain 
delusions,  but  that  we  may  possess  our  souls  in  steadfastness 
of  faith,  and  a  heavenly  tranquillity,  with  evenness  of  temper 
and  sobriety  of  mind,  and  that  weeping  we  may  be  as  though 
we  wept  not,  and  rejoicing  as  though  we  rejoiced  not,  because 
our  lives  are  hid  with  Christ  in  God  ;  unto  whom  with  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  be  all  praise  and  adoration,  world 
without  end.     Amen. 


68  NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^ecoiTD  ^untiat. 


Out  of  the  depths  have  I  cried  unto  Thee,  O  Lord.  Lord, 
hear  my  voice  :  let  Thine  ears  be  attentive  to  the  voice  of  my 
supplications. 

If  Thou,  Lord,  shouldst  mark  iniquities,  O  Lord,  who  shall 
stand  ? 

But  there  is  forgiveness  with  Thee,  that  Thou  mayest  be 
feared. 

It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  but  we  know  that 
when  He  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see 
Him  as  He  is. 

What  is  the  perfection  of  the  spiritual  life  ?  It 
may  be  summed  up  in  one  definition,  namely,  that  it 
consists  in  a  holy  likeness  to  our  Lord  and  Saviour. 
If  we  approach  His  character,  we  approach  the  per- 
fection of  the  spiritual  life,  and  it  is  just  in  propor- 
tion as  we  have  the  mind  of  Christ  that  we  have  any 
real  spirituality  in  our  life.  Now  the  question  is, 
how  this  likeness  is  to  be  promoted.  In  the  first 
place,  there  must  be  an  acquaintance  with  God's 
character.  God's  Word,  which  reveals  it,  must  not 
be  read  cursorily  or  idly,  and  in  the  midst  of  other 


SECOND   SUNDAY.  69 

engagements,  or  when  the  wearied  brain  is  worn  out 
at  night.  God's  Word  must  be  deeply  studied,  and 
prayed  over,  and  passage  compared  with  passage,  if 
we  would  become  familiarized  with  the  character  of 
the  Lord.  But  we  may  go  a  step  farther,  and  say 
that  out  of  the  knowledge  we  obtain  from  God's 
Word  there  should  arise  a  personal  intimacy  and  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Saviour.  It  is  a  very  easy  thing 
to  know  about  Him;  but  a  very  different  one  to 
know  Him.  We  want  to  know  Him  in  personal  in- 
tercourse, to  walk  with  Him,  to  converse  with  Him, 
to  cultivate  an  intimacy  with  Him,  to  be  able  to  go 
again  and  again  to  Him  with  the  words  of  the  Psalm- 
ist, "  Say  unto  my  soul,  I  am  thy  salvation."  And 
now  another  point ;  in  seeking  His  likeness,  in  culti- 
vating His  friendship,  in  making  ourselves  acquainted 
with  His  mind,  there  is  one  great  principle  to  be  ob- 
served, a  principle  which  has  brought  life,  peace,  and 
happiness  to  thousands  of  souls  :  it  is  that  we  must 
observe  the  order  of  God's  gifts.  The  natural  heart 
when  first  awakened  invariably  places  the  spiritu- 
ality first,  and  the  forgiveness  and  acceptance  second. 
Most  men,  when  they  first  begin  to  think,  would  be 
naturally  disposed,  had  they  been  intrusted  with  the 
composition  of  the  130th  Psalm,  to  have  written, 
"  There  is  forgiveness  with  Thee,  if  I  can  but  fear 
Thee  better."    But  mark  how  God  puts  it,  "  There  is 


70         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

forgiveness  with  Thee  that  Thou  mayest  be  feared." 
The  whole  of  that  holy  fear,  the  whole  of  that  spiritu- 
ality, the  whole  of  that  reverential  obedience  to  our 
blessed  Lord,  is  the  result  of  the  forgiveness  freely 
granted  ;  granted  because,  as  we  find  in  the  seventh 
verse  of  that  same  Psalm,  "  With  Thee  is  plenteous 
redemption."  Now,  if  this  order  be  observed,  it  fol- 
lows that  the  sense  of  defect  does  not  keep  us  at  a 
distance  from  God  ;  but  being  reconciled,  and  being 
forgiven,  we  may  go  close  to  the  Saviour  to  invite  in- 
timacy, even  at  the  time  of  our  deepest  humiliation, 
and  seek  His  likeness  in  the  confident  hope  that  the 
day  will  come  when  that  passage  will  receive  its  com- 
plete fulfillment,  "  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 
shall  be,  but  we  know  that  when  He  shall  appear  we 
shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is." 

There  is  a  secret  place  of  rest 

God's  saints  alone  may  know  ; 
Thou  shalt  not  find  it  east  or  west, 

Though  seeking  to  and  fro. 
If  thou  hadst  dwelt  within  that  place 

Then  would  thine  heart  the  while, 
In  vision  of  the  Saviour's  face 

Forget  all  other  smile, 

Would  count  it  blest  to  live,  to  die 

Where  He  is  all  in  all : 
Where  rapt,  earth  unperceived  goes  by, 

And  from  ourselves  we  fall, 


SECOND   SUNDAY.  71 

Till  from  His  secret  place  below 

To  mansions  fair  above, 
He  leads  thee,  there  to  make  thee  know 

The  perfect  joys  of  love. 

/~\  LORD,  who  alone  canst  give  the  hearing  ear,  and  the  un- 
derstanding heart  :  open  our  minds,  we  beseech  Thee,  to 
understand  Thy  word  which  Thou  hast  in  mercy  bestowed  upon 
us.  Give  us  ears  to  hear,  that  we  may  apprehend  those  things 
which  are  revealed  unto  us  by  Thee.  Save  us  from  using  Thy 
word  deceitfully,  —  from  wresting  it  to  serve  our  own  purpose, 
—  from  being  in  bondage  to  the  letter  of  Scripture  while  we 
neglect  its  spirit.  Save  us  also  from  carelessness  and  indolence 
in  the  use  of  Thy  word  ;  May  we  search  the  Scriptures  dil- 
igently, and  find  in  them  their  testimony  to  Christ.  And  be- 
holding His  glory  reflected  in  them,  may  we  be  changed  into  it 
ever  more  and  more,  till  we  are  made  like  Him  in  His  heavenly 
kingdom,  through  the  same  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen, 


72         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^ecottn  iHottnat. 


Behold  what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon 
us  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons  of  God. 

Now  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  and  God,  even  our 
Father,  which  hath  loved  us  and  hath  given  us  everlasting  con- 
solation and  good  hope  through  grace,  comfort  your  hearts  and 
stablish  you  in  every  good  word  and  work. 

Fatherhood  !  what  does  that  word  itself  teach 
us  ?  It  speaks  of  the  communication  of  a  life,  and 
the  reciprocity  of  love.  It  rests  upon  a  Divine  act, 
and  it  involves  a  human  emotion.  It  means  that  the 
Father  and  the  child  shall  have  kindred  life  —  the 
Father  bestowing  and  the  child  possessing  a  life 
which  is  derived  ;  and  because  derived,  kindred ;  and 
because  kindred,  unfolding  itself  in  likeness  to  the 
Father  that  gave  it.  And  it  requires  that  between 
the  Father's  heart  and  the  child's  heart  there  shall 
pass,  in  blessed  interchange  and  quick  correspond- 
ence, answering  love,  flashing  backwards  and  for- 
wards, like  the  lightning  that  touches  the  earth  and 
rises  from  it  again.  A  simple  appeal  to  your  own 
consciousness  will  decide  if  that  be  the  condition  of 


SECOND  MONDAY.  73 

all  men.  Are  you,  my  brother,  conscious  of  anything 
within  you  higher  than  the  common  life  that  belongs 
to  you  because  you  are  a  body  and  soul  ?  Can  you 
say,  '*  From  God's  hand  I  have  received  the  granting 
and  implantation  of  a  new  and  better  life  ?  "  Is  your 
claim  verified  by  this,  that  you  are  kindred  with  God 
in  holy  affections,  in  like  purposes,  loving  what  He 
loves,  hating  what  He  hates,  doing  what  He  wills, 
accepting  what  He  sends,  longing  for  Himself,  and 
blessed  in  His  presence  ?  Is  your  sonship  proved  by 
the  depth  and  sincerity,  the  simplicity  and  power, 
of  your  throbbing  heart  of  love  to  your  Father  in 
heaven  ?  Or  are  all  these  emotions  empty  words  to 
you,  things  that  are  spoken  in  pulpits,  but  to  which 
you  have  nothing  in  your  life  corresponding  ?  There 
must  be  a  gift  of  God.  A  Divine  energy  must  be  the 
source  and  fountain  of  all  holy  and  of  all  Godlike 
life.  Christ  comes,  comes  to  make  you  and  me  live 
again  as  we  never  lived  before  ;  live  as  possessors  of 
God's  love  ;  live  tenanted  and  ruled  by  a  Divine 
Spirit ;  live  with  affections  in  our  hearts  which  loe 
neve  rcould  kindle  there  ;  live  with  purposes  in  our 
souls  which  10 e  never  could  put  there.  If  we  under- 
stand, as  we  are  too  much  disposed  to  do,  that  the 
Gospel  simply  comes  to  work  out  a  moral  reforma- 
tion, —  why,  there  is  no  need  for  a  Gospel  at  all.  If 
the  change  were  a  simple  change  of  habit  and  action 


74         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

on  the  part  of  men,  we  could  do  without  a  Christ. 
If  the  change  simply  involved  a  bracing  ourselves  up 
to  behave  better  for  the  future,  we  could  manage 
somehow  or  other  about  as  well  as  or  better  than  we 
have  managed  in  the  past.  But  if  redemption  be 
the  giving  of  life  from  God  ;  and  if  redemption  be 
the  change  of  position  in  reference  to  God's  love  and 
God's  law  as  well,  neither  of  these  two  changes  can 
a  man  effect  for  himself.  You  cannot  gather  up  the 
spilt  water ;  you  cannot  any  more  gather  up  and  re- 
issue the  past  life.  There  is  but  one  Being  that  can 
make  a  change  in  our  position  in  regard  to  God,  and 
there  is  but  one  Being  that  can  make  the  change  by 
which  man  shall  become  a  "new  creature."  And 
He  has  eome^  and  He  has  dwelt  with  us,  and  He  has 
walked  in  the  midst  of  this  world,  and  He  knows  all 
about  our  human  agonies  and  depressions  and  lowli- 
ness, and  He  has  carried  in  the  golden  urn  of  His 
humanity  a  new  spirit  and  a  new  life  which  He  has 
set  down  in  the  midst  of  the  race  ;  and  the  urn  was 
broken  on  the  cross  of  Calvary,  and  the  water  flowed 
out,  and  withersoever  that  water  comes  there  is  life, 
and  whithersoever  it  comes  not  there  is  death  ! 

O  Lord !  how  happy  should  we  be, 
If  we  could  leave  our  care  to  Thee, 

If  we  from  sin  could  rest ; 

And  feel  at  heart  that  one  above. 


SECOND  MONDAY.  75 

In  perfect  wisdom,  perfect  love, 
Is  working  for  the  best. 

For  when  we  kneel  and  cast  our  care 

Upon  our  God  in  humble  prayer, 
With  strengthened  souls  we  rise. 

Sure  that  our  Father  who  is  nigh 
To  hear  the  ravens  when  they  cry 

Will  hear  his  children's  cries. 

A  BBA,  Father,  fulfill  the  office  of  Thy  name  towards  Thy 

servants ;   do  Thou  govern,  protect,  preserve,   sanctify, 

guide,  console  them ;  let  them  be  so  enkindled  with  love  for 

Thee,  that  they  may  not  be  despised  by  Thee,  O  most  merciful 

Lord,  most  tender  Father.    Amen, 


76         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^econu  CuejiDat- 


Wherefore  seeing  we  also  are  compassed  about  with  so  great 
a  cloud  of  witnesses,  let  us  lay  aside  every  weight,  and  the 
sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run  with  patience 
the  race  that  is  set  before  us, 

Looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of  our  faith, 
who  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross, 
despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
throne  of  God. 

Of  course,  the  Apostle  does  not  mean  some  one 
special  kind  of  transgression  when  he  says,  "  the  sin 
which  doth  so  easily  beset  us."  He  is  speaking 
about  sin  generically  —  all  manner  of  transgression. 
It  is  not,  as  we  sometimes  hear  the  words  misquoted, 
"  that  sin  which  doth  most  easily  beset  us."  All  sin 
is  according  to  this  passage  a  besetting  sin.  It  is  the 
characteristic  of  every  kind  of  transgression,  that  it 
circles  us  round  about,  that  it  is  always  lying  in  wait 
and  lurking  for  us.  The  whole  of  it  therefore,  in 
all  its  species,  is  to  be  cast  aside  if  we  would  run 
with  patience  this  appointed  race.  But  then,  besides 
that,  there  is  something  else  to  be  put  aside  as  well 


SECOND  TUESDAY.  77 

as  sin.  There  is  "  every  weight  "  as  well  as  every 
transgression  —  two  distinct  things,  meant  to  be  dis- 
tinguished. The  putting  away  of  both  of  them  is 
equally  needful  for  the  race.  The  figure  is  plain 
enough.  We  as  racers  must  throw  aside  the  gar- 
ment that  wraps  us  round  —  that  is  to  say,  "  the  sin 
that  easily  besets  us ;  "  and  then,  besides  that,  we 
must  lay  aside  everything  else  which  weights  us  for 
the  race  —  that  is  to  say,  certain  habits  or  tendencies 
within  us. 

Why  must  we  lay  them  aside  ?  The  whole  of  the 
Christian's  course  is  a  fight.  We  carry  with  us  a 
double  nature.  The  best  of  us  knows  that  "flesh 
lusts  against  spirit,  and  spirit  against  flesh."  Be- 
cause of  that  conflict,  it  follows  that  if  ever  there  is 
to  be  a  positive  progress  in  the  Christian  course,  it 
must  be  accompanied,  and  made  possible,  by  the 
negative  process  of  casting  away  and  losing  much 
that  interferes  with  it.  Yes  !  that  race  is  not  merely 
the  easy  and  natural  unfolding  of  what  is  within  us. 
The  way  by  which  we  come  to  "  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  perfect  men  "  in  Christ,  is  not  the  way  by 
which  these  material  bodies  of  ours  grow  up  into 
their  perfectness.  They  have  but  to  be  nourished, 
and  they  grow.  That  law  of  growth  is  used  by  our 
Lord  as  a  description,  but  only  as  a  partial  descrip- 
tion, of  the  way  by  which  the  kingdom  of  Christ 


78         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

advances  in  the  heart.  There  is  another  side  to  it 
as  well  as  that.  The  kingdom  advances  by  warfare 
as  well  as  by  growth.  It  would  be  easy  if  it  were 
but  a  matter  of  getting  more  and  more ;  but  it  is 
not  that  only.  Every  step  of  the  road,  you  have  to 
cut  your  way  through  opposing  foes.  Every  step  of 
the  road  has  to  be  marked  with  the  blood  that  comes 
from  wounded  feet.  There  is  no  spiritual  life  with- 
out dying,  there  is  no  spiritual  growth  without  put- 
ting  off  "  the  old  man  with  his  affections  and  lusts." 
The  hands  cannot  move  freely  until  the  bonds  be 
broken.  The  new  Life  that  is  in  us  cannot  run  with 
patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  it,  until  the  old 
Life  that  is  in  us  is  put  down  and  subdued.  And 
if  we  fancy  that  we  are  to  get  to  heaven  by  a  process 
of  persistent  growth,  without  painful  self-sacrifice 
and  martyrdom,  we  know  nothing  about  it.  That 
is  not  the  law.  For  every  new  step  that  we  win  in 
the  Christian  course  there  must  have  been  the  laying 
aside  of  something.  For  every  progress  in  knowl- 
edge, there  must  have  been  a  sacrifice  and  martyr- 
dom of  our  own  indolence,  of  our  own  pride,  of  our 
own  blindness  of  heart,  of  our  own  perverseness  of 
will,  wavering  hearts  that  are  drawn  away  from  God 
by  the  sweetness  of  this  world.  For  every  progress 
in  strenuous  work  for  God,  there  must  have  been  a 
slaying  of  the  selfishness  which  urges  us  to  work  in 


SECOND  TUESDAY.  79 

our  own  strength  and  for  our  own  sake.  All  along 
the  Christian  course  there  must  be  set  up  altars  to 
God  on  which  you  sacrifice  yourselves,  or  you  will 
never  advance  a  step.  The  old  legend  that  the  Gre- 
cian host  lay  weather-bound  in  their  port,  vainly 
waiting  for  a  wind  to  come  and  carry  them  to  con- 
quest ;  and  that  they  were  obliged  to  slay  a  human 
sacrifice  ere  the  heavens  would  be  propitious  and 
fill  their  sails,  —  may  be  translated  into  the  deepest 
verity  of  the  Christian  life.  We  may  see  in  it  that 
solemn  lesson  —  no  prosperous  voyage,  and  no  final 
conquest,  until  the  natural  life  has  been  offered  up 
on  the  altar  of  hourly  self-denial. 

Of  course,  there  are  duties  which,  by  our  own  sin- 
fulness, we  make  weights,  and  we  dare  not,  and  we 
cannot  if  we  would,  lay  them  aside.  A  man,  for  in- 
stance, is  born  into  certain  circumstances,  wherein 
he  must  abide  ;  he  has  "  a  calling  whereunto  he  is 
called."  Your  trade  is  a  weight,  your  daily  occupa- 
tions are  weights.  The  spirit  of  this  commandment 
before  us  is  not,  "  Leave  your  plough,  and  go  up 
into  the  mountain  to  pray."  Again,  a  man  finds 
himself  surrounded  by  friends  and  domestic  ties. 
He  dare  not,  he  must  not,  he  cannot,  shake  himself 
free  from  these.  There  are  cases  in  which  to  put 
away  the  occupation  tKat  has  become  a  weight,  —  to 
sacrifice  the  blessing  that  has  become  a  hindrance,  — 


80         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

to  abstain  from  the  circumstances  wbich  clog  and 
impede  our  Divine  life,  —  is  a  sin.  Where  God  sets 
us,  we  must  stand,  if  we  die.  What  God  has  given 
us  to  do,  we  must  do.  The  duties  that  in  our  weak- 
ness become  impediments  and  weights,  we  must  not 
leave. 

But  for  all  besides  these,  anything  which,  I  know, 
has  become  a  snare  to  me  —  unless  it  be  something 
in  the  course  of  my  simple  duty,  or  unless  it  be 
some  one  of  those  relations  of  life  which  I  cannot 
get  rid  of,  I  must  have  done  with  it !  It  may  be 
sweet,  it  may  be  very  dear,  it  may  lie  very  near 
thy  heart,  it  may  be  a  part  of  thy  very  being: 
—  never  mind,  put  it  away  !  If  God  has  said  to 
you,  There,  my  child,  stand  there,  surrounded  by 
temptations !  —  then,  like  a  man,  stand  to  your  col- 
ors, and  do  not  take  these  words  as  if  they  said,  — 
I  am  to  leave  a  place  because  I  find  myself  too  weak 
to  resist  —  a  place  in  which  God,  for  the  good  of 
others  or  for  the  good  of  myself,  has  manifestly  set 
me.  But  for  all  other  provinces  of  life,  if  I  feel 
myself  weak  I  shall  be  wise  to  fly.  As  Christ  has 
said,  "  If  thy  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off:  "it  is 
better,  it  is  better  for  thee  to  go  into  life  with  that 
maimed  and  bleeding  stump,  an  imperfect  man,  than 
with  all  thy  natural  capacities  and  powers  to  be 
utterly  lost  at  the  last !     Better  a  maimed  man  in 


SECOND   TUESDAY.  81 

Christ's  fold,  than  a  perfect  man,  if  that  were  possi- 
ble, outside  of  it. 

With  every  weight  now  cast  aside, 
In  Him  my  steadfast  thoughts  abide. 
The  sin  most  easy  to  beset 
Is,  in  His  strength,  with  courage  met. 

Temptation  cannot  come  to  me 
Which  He  doth  not  as  instant  see. 
No  form  of  trial  I  must  bear 
But  He  hath  known  and  still  doth  share. 

I  hear  His  voice;  I  touch  His  hands, 
Which  draw  me  nearer  where  He  stands. 
If  sudden  pain  my  soul  alarms, 
I  feel  the  clasping  of  His  arms. 

If  I  am  tempted  to  deny, 

I  only  turn  and  meet  His  eye : 

My  heart  doth  break,  and  break' again. 

Before  its  speechless  love  and  pain. 

O  grace,  beyond  my  power  of  thought, 
For  me  by  my  Redeemer  bought ! 
0  love,  whose  wondrous  depth  and  height 
Is  far  beyond  my  mortal  sight! 

O  joy  no  language  can  express ! 
For  me  —  for  me  the  blessedness ! 
The  stainless  robe,  the  glorious  crown, 
For  which  He  laid  the  ransom  down  I 


82         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

rpHOU,  O  Lord,  art  full  of  compassion,  long-suffering,  and 
pity.  Thou  sparest  when  we  deserve  punishment,  and  in 
Thy  wrath  thinkest  upon  mercy.  Turn  then  Thine  anger  from 
us  and  give  us  peace :  and  enable  us  by  Thy  grace  to  redeem 
the  time  which  we  have  spent  in  sloth,  vanity,  and  wickedness; 
to  make  use  of  Thy  gifts  to  the  honor  of  Thy  name ;  and  to 
lead  a  new  life  in  Thy  faith,  fear,  and  love.  Release  us,  O 
Lord,  from  the  bands  of  those  sins  which,  by  our  frailty,  we 
have  committed.  Strengthen  us  in  our  struggles  with  tempta- 
tion. Fill  us  with  just  hopes,  true  faith,  and  holy  consolations; 
and  enable  us  to  do  our  duty  in  the  state  of  life  to  which  Thou 
hast  been  pleased  to  call  us,  without  disturbance  from  anxious 
cares  or  evil  imaginations,  that  in  all  our  thoughts,  words,  and 
actions,  we  may  glorify  Thy  holy  name;  and  finally,  obtain 
everlasting  joy  and  felicity,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen. 


THIRD   WEDNESDAY.  83 


€l)iv\i  mzMmaV' 


For  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the 
sons  of  God.  ^ 

For  ye  have  not  received  the  spirit  of  bondage  again  to  fear  ; 
but  ye  have  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we  cry, 
Abba,  Father. 

The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are 
the  children  of  God  :  and  if  children,  then  heirs  ;  heirs  of  God, 
and  joint-heirs  with  Christ  ;  if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  Him, 
that  we  may  be  also  glorified  together. 

Do  not  account  of  small  importance  the  awful  sense 
in  which  Christ's  suffering  stands  as  a  thing  by  itself 
and  unapproachable,  a  solitary  pillar  rising  up,  above 
the  waste  of  time,  to  which  all  men  everywhere  are 
to  turn  with  the  one  thought,  "  I  can  do  nothing  like 
that ;  I  need  to  do  nothing  like  it ;  it  has  been  done 
once,  and  once  for  all;  and  what  I  have  to  do  is 
simply  to  lie  down  before  Him,  and  let  the  power 
and  the  blessings  of  that  death  and  those  sufferings 
flow  into  my  heart."  The  Divine  Reedemer  makes 
eternal  redemption.     The  sufferings  of  Christ  —  the 


84         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

sufferings  of  His  life,  and  the  sufferings  of  His  death 
—  both  because  of  the  nature  which  bore  them,  and 
of  the  aspect  which  they  wore  in  regard  to  us,  are  in 
their  source,  in  their  intensity,  in  their  character,  and 
consequences,  unapproachable,  incapable  of  repetition, 
and  needing  no  repetition  whilst  the  world  shall 
stand.  But  then,  do  not  let  us  forget  that  the  very 
books  and  writers  in  the  New  Testament  that  preach 
most  broadly  Christ's  sole,  all-sufficient,  eternal  re- 
demption for  the  world,  by  His  sufferings  and  death, 
turn  round  and  say  to  us  too,  " '  Be  planted  together 
in  the  likeness  of  His  death :  '  you  are  '  crucified  to 
the  world  '  by  the  cross  of  Christ ;  you  are  to  '  fill  up 
that  which  is  behind  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ.'  " 
He  Himself  speaks  of  our  drinking  of  the  cup  that 
He  drank  of,  and  being  baptized  with  the  baptism 
that  He  was  baptized  with,  if  we  desire  to  sit  yonder 
on  His  throne,  and  share  with  Him  in  His  glory. 
Now  what  do  the  Apostles,  and  what  does  Christ 
himself,  mean,  by  such  solemn  words  as  these  ?  Some 
people  shrink  from  them,  and  say  that  it  is  trenching 
upon  the  central  doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  when  we 
speak  about  drinking  of  the  cup  which  Christ  drank 
of.  Thej^  ask.  Can  it  be  ?  Yes,  it  can  be,  if  you 
will  think  thus:  If  a  Christian  has  the  spirit  and 
life  of  Christ  in  him,  his  career  will  be  moulded,  im- 
perfectly but  really,  by  the  same  spirit  that  dwelt  in 


THIRD   WEDNESDAY.  85 

his  Lord  ;  and  similar  causes  will  produce  correspond- 
ing effects.  The  life  of  Christ  which  —  divine, 
pure,  incapable  of  copy  and  repetition  —  in  one  as- 
pect has  passed  away  forever  from  men,  remains  to 
be  lived,  in  another  view  of  it,  by  every  Christian, 
who  in  like  manner  has  to  fight  with  the  world,  who 
in  like  manner  has  to  resist  temptation,  who  in  like 
manner  has  to  stand,  by  God's  help,  pure  and  sinless, 
in  so  far  as  the  new  nature  of  him  is  concerned,  in 
the  midst  of  a  world  that  is  full  of  evil.  For  were 
the  sufferings  of  the  Lord  only  the  sufferings  that 
were  wrought  upon  Calvary  ?  Were  the  sufferings 
of  the  Lord  only  the  sufferings  which  came  from  the 
"  contradiction  of  sinners  against  Himself?  "  Were 
the  sufferings  of  the  Lord  only  the  sufferings  which 
were  connected  with  the  bodily  afflictions  and  pain, 
precious  and  priceless  as  they  were,  and  operative 
causes  of  our  redemption  as  they  were  ?  Oh  no. 
Conceive  of  that  perfect,  sinless,  really  human  life,  in 
the  midst  of  a  system  of  things  that  is  all  full  of  cor- 
ruption and  of  sin ;  coming  ever  and  anon  against 
misery,  and  wrong-doing,  and  rebellion ;  and  ask 
yourselves  whether  part  of  His  sufferings  did  not 
spring  from  the  contact  of  the  sinless  Son  of  man 
with  a  sinful  world,  and  the  apparently  vain  attempt 
to  influence  and  leaven  that  sinful  world  with  care 
for  itself  and  love  for  the  Father.     If  there  had  been 


86         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

nothing  more  than  that,  yet  Christ's  sufferings  as  the 
Son  of  God  in  the  midst  of  sinful  men  would  have 
been  deep  and  real.  "  O  faithless  generation,  how 
long  shall  I  be  with  you?  how  long  shall  I  suffer 
you?  "  was  wrung  from  Him  by  the  painful  sense  of 
want  of  sympathy  between  His  aims  and  theirs. 
"  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove,  for  then  I  would 
fly  away  and  be  at  rest,"  must  often  be  the  language 
of  those  who  are  like  Him  in  spirit,  and  in  conse- 
quent sufferings. 

The  death  of  Christ  is  a  type  of  the  Christian's 
life,  which  is  to  be  one  long-protracted  and  daily 
dying  to  sin,  to  self,  to  the  world.  The  crucifixion 
of  the  old  manhood  is  to  be  the  life's  work  of  every 
Christian,  through  the  power  of  faith  in  that  cross  by 
which  "  the  world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto 
the  world."  That  thought  comes  over  and  over  again 
in  all  forms  of  earnest  presentation  in  the  Apostle's 
teaching.  Do  not  slur  it  over  as  if  it  were  a  mere 
fanciful  metaphor.  It  carries  in  its  type  a  most 
solemn  reality.  On  this  high  level  and  not  upon  the 
lower  one  of  the  consideration  that  Christ  will  help 
us  to  bear  outward  infirmities  and  afflictions,  do  we 
find  the  true  meaning  of  all  that  Scripture  teaching 
that  says  indeed,  "  Yes,  our  sufferings  are  Sis ;  "  but 
lays  the  foundation  of  it  in  this,  "  His  sufferings  are 
ours,^^     It  begins  by  telling  us  that  Christ  has  done 


TfflRD  WEDNESDAY.  87 

a  work  and  borne  a  sorrow  that  no  second  can  ever 
do.  Then  it  tells  us  that  Christ's  life  of  obedience 
—  which,  because  it  was  a  life  of  obedience,  was  a 
life  of  suffering,  and  brought  Him  into  a  condition  of 
hostility  to  the  men  around  Him  —  is  to  be  repeated 
in  us.  It  sets  before  us  the  cross  of  Calvary,  and  the 
sorrows  and  pains  that  were  felt  there  ;  —  and  it  says 
to  us.  Christian  men  and  women,  if  you  want  the 
power  for  holy  living,  have  fellowship  in  that  atoning 
death ;  and  if  you  want  the  pattern  of  holy  living, 
look  at  that  cross  and  feel,  "I  am  crucified  to  the 
world  by  it ;  and  the  life  that  I  live  in  the  flesh  I 
live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God." 

What  if  thou  always  suffer  tribulation, 
And  if  thy  Christian  warfare  never  cease  ; 

The  gaining  of  the  quiet  habitation 
Shall  gather  thee  to  everlasting  peace. 

But  here  we  all  must  suffer,  walking  lonely 
The  path  that  Jesus  once  Himself  hath  gone  ; 

Watch  thou  in  patience  through  this  hour  only, 
lliis  one  dark  hour  before  the  eternal  dawn. 

Thou  must  walk  on,  however  man  upbraid  thee 
With  Him  who  trod  the  wine-press  all  alone  ; 

Thou  wilt  not  find  one  human  hand  to  aid  thee, 
One  human  soul,  to  comprehend  thine  own. 


88         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

/^  LORD  Jesus  Christ,  our  sympathizing  Saviour,  who  for 
man  didst  bear  the  agony  and  the  Cross,  draw  Thou  near 
to  Thy  suffering  servants  ;  hallow  all  their  crosses  in  this  life, 
and  crown  them  hereafter  where  all  tears  are  wiped  away  ; 
where,  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  Thou  livest  and 
reignest,  one  God,  world  without  end.    Amen, 


TmED  THURSDAY.  89 


Cl^irD  Cl^urjSDa^ 


Behold,  the  husbandman  waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit  of 
the  earth,  and  hath  long  patience  for  it,  until  he  receive  the 
early  and  latter  rain.  Be  ye  also  patient  ;  stablish  your  hearts; 
for  the  coming  of  the  Lord  draweth  nigh. 

Let  every  man  abide  in  the  same  calling  wherein  he  was 
called.  The  time  is  short.  It  remaineth  that  they  that  weep 
should  be  as  though  they  wept  not,  and  they  that  rejoice  as 
though  they  rejoiced  not  ;  and  they  that  buy  as  though  they 
possessed  not;  and  they  that  use  this  world  as  not  abusing  it  ; 
for  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away. 

It  is  our  chief  diflficulty  about  the  formation  of 
Christian  character,  that  we  do  not  give  enough  time 
to  it.  We  do  not  make  it  sufficiently  one  continual 
work  through  our  whole  life,  or  so  long  as  we  have 
the  conscious  exercise  of  the.  free  will.  We  do  not 
begin  early  enough.  We  leave  children  too  much  to 
chance ;  to  their  own  wayward  wills,  instead  of  re- 
garding them  from  the  moment  of  their  baptism  as 
temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost  —  as  objects  of  love  for 
the  angels,  and  the  deeper  love  of  their  Lord.  Yery 
early  in  life  troubles  arise  which  cloud  middle  life 


90         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

and  hang  heavily  over  old  age.  Then,  again,  if  we 
do  that,  we  are  all  too  apt,  when  persons  have 
passed  the  middle  of  life,  or  even  earlier,  when  they 
have  reached  the  age  of  discretion,  and  at  Confirma- 
tion have  spoken  out  before  the  Church  and  God,  to 
consider  that  we  need  not  interfere  any  more,  or 
talk  to  them  about  such  matters  as  prayer,  and  the 
difficulties  which  beset  their  soul.  We  think  it  would 
almost  be  an  impertinence  to  a  man,  and  a  wrong  to 
his  independence,  to  do  so.  But  is  that  right  ?  Is 
the  battle  of  life  over  at  twenty-one  ?  We  may  be 
of  age  for  some  things,  but  yet  only  children  in  the 
service  of  Christ.  Reflect  for  a  moment  on  the  warn- 
ings we  have  in  the  Great  Book  which  God  has  writ- 
ten for  us.  No  book  that  I  know  of  speaks  out  so 
outspokenly  as  the  Bible.  And  what  do  we  find 
there  ?  What  are  some  of  the  great  examples  of 
the  buffeting  of  Satan  ?  We  have  heard  of  the 
patience  of  Job,  but  do  we  always  remember  that 
he  is  brought  before  us  as  a  type  of  one  buffeted 
by  Satan  ?  And  at  what  age  ?  He  was  a  married 
man,  in  middle  life,  settled  in  his  place ;  one  with  a 
family  ;  one  with  wealth  around  him.  Such  was  the 
man,  at  that  age,  when  buffeted.  He  much  needed 
to  keep  on  his  watchfulness.  We  all  know  of  the 
royal  penitent,  David.  Ah !  but  when  did  his  trouble 
come  ?   Not  as  a  youth  on  the  hills  about  Bethlehem : 


THIRD   THURSDAY.  91 

not  in  all  the  action  and  excitement  of  army  life,  and 
all  the  gayety  of  the  court  of  Saul,  but  when,  in  mid- 
life, in  married  life,  he  had  won  a  position  which 
should  have  satisfied  his  ambition,  and  he  might  have 
begun  to  think  of  rest.  It  was  then  the  cloud  that 
darkened  David's  life  overshadowed  him.  It  was  in 
middle  life  that  he  needed  to  preserve  the  duty  of 
discipline.  What  was  the  age  of  the  penitent  Apostle 
when  he  had  to  be  restored  ?  It  wa^  in  married  life  : 
it  was  when  he  had  advanced  beyond  what  many  con- 
sider the  time  when  discipline  and  deepening  are 
necessary.  If  I  may  say  it,  with  all  reverence,  do  we 
always  remember  that  when  the  Captain  of  our  Sal- 
vation was  pleased  to  descend  into  the  arena  of  temp- 
tation and  throw  a  lustre  round  it,  by  proving  to  us 
that  temptation  is  not  sin  unless  we  yield.  He  was 
thirty  years  of  age  ?  And  next,  if  we  do  not  give 
time  enough,  neither  are  we  thorough  enough  when 
we  do  set  about  it.  If  you  would  but  think  of  some 
of  the  warnings  which  are  given  us  in  the  early 
dispensation  of  God !  Think  of  the  thoroughness,  at 
least  in  symbol,  with  which  the  typical  sin  of  leprosy 
was  to  be  put  away  —  how  the  man  was  to  be  put 
out  of  the  camp  —  how  when  he  is  brought  in  there 
is  to  be  the  cedar  and  hyssop,  and  water  and  blood, 
the  living  and  dead  bird  —  the  life  through  death  — 
the  purification,  the  scarlet,  new  blood  flowing  again 


92         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

when  he  is  brought  within  the  camp.  Then  there  is 
the  reconsecration  of  the  man,  almost  point  for  point 
like  the  consecration  of  the  High  Priest.  And  then 
after  this  purification  and  consecration  there  comes 
the  entering  of  the  religious  life  again,  and  the  sacri- 
fice goes  on  with  all  the  greater  thoroughness.  Or 
look  into  the  New  Testament.  We  are  so  familiar 
with  the  examples  there,  that  we  pass  them  by  as 
though  they  meant  nothing.  Christ  would  tell  us 
that  the  religious  life  is  not  merely  outward,  but  es- 
sentially something  within,  the  improving  the  inward 
man,  inward  holiness,  the  working  of  the  heart  and 
mind  towards  Him.  This  was  the  point  on  which 
our  Lord  insisted.  Some  of  His  parables  take  their 
outward  form  as  naturally  from  what  He  watched  in 
the  inward  heart,  as  others  take  their  outward  form 
from  the  scattering  of  the  seed  in  the  field.  The 
rich  man  says  secretly  to  his  soul,  "  Soul,  thou  hast 
much  goods ; "  but  God  answers  his  secret  words  as 
though  they  were  spoken  openly  and  aloud.  The 
Apostles  are  murmuring  about  the  first  place,  and 
He  makes  them  silent  by  asking  them  what  they 
were  talking  about  ?  In  the  heart  where  the  thoughts 
are  going  on  is  the  place  where  He  would  have  us 
watch.  It  is  the  contents  of  the  hearts  which  leave 
a  defiling  mark  upon  the  man  quite  as  much  as  that 
which  the  world  sees  without.     From  within  —  here 


THIRD   THURSDAY.  '  93 

is  where  the  scar  begins  which  offends  the  eye  of  the 
Captain  of  our  warfare.  And  so,  again,  if  we  listen 
to  some  of  the  simple  commands,  how  high  they  reach 
— "  Be  ye  perfect."  We  do  not  aim  thoroughly 
enough ;  nor  aim  enough  for  the  victory  with  Him. 
So,  again,  if  we  turn  to  some  of  the  earlier  Christian 
writings,  how  did  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  St.  Cyril, 
teach  even  the  catechumen  ?  "  Look  up,"  he  said, 
"  look  up  to  the  angels  and  archangels ;  see  in  those 
creatures,  once  like  yourselves,  beings  who,  by  the 
aid  of  God's  power,  have  reached  a  state  in  which 
now  they  sin  no  more,  but  in  perfect  happiness  do 
His  will  —  in  perfect  peace  abide  in  the  highest 
heaven  of  His  presence.  Look  up  at  those  creatures 
who  have  reached  this  perfect  state.  Gabriel  and 
Michael  needed  the  help  of  God  as  well  as  you. 
They  have  had  their  help,  and  therefore  look  to 
them,  and  see  in  them  what  an  exalted  state  of  per- 
fection God  can  enable  a  creature  to  reach."  We 
never  outgrow  the  need  of  watchfulness,  —  till  we 
come  to  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of 
Christ. 

What  are  we  set  on  earth  for  ?     Say,  to  toil  — 
Nor  seek  to  leave  thy  tending  of  the  vines, 
For  all  the  heat  o'  the  day,  till  it  declines, 
And  death's  mild  curfew  shall  from  work  assoil. 
God  did  anoint  thee  with  his  odorous  oil, 


94         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

To  wrestle,  not  to  reign  ;  and  He  assigns 

All  thy  tears  over,  like  pure  crystallines, 

For  younger  fellow- workers  of  the  soil 

To  wear  for  amulets.     So  others  shall 

Take  patience,  labor,  to  their  heart  and  hand. 

From  thy  hand,  and  thy  heart,  and  thy  brave  cheer. 

And  God's  grace  fructify  through  thee  to  all. 

The  least  flower,  with  a  brimming  cup,  may  stand, 

And  share  its  dew-drop  with  another  near. 

/~\  GOD,  who  in  the  beginning  didst  create  the  heavens  and 
^^  the  earth,  and  didst  give  unto  all  men  their  work,  and  the 
bounds  of  their  habitation,  grant  to  us  that  we  be  not  unwise, 
but  understanding  Thy  will  :  not  slothful,  but  diligent  in  Thy 
work  :  that  we  run  not  as  uncertainly,  nor  fight  Thy  battles  as 
those  that  beat  the  air.  Whatsoever  our  hand  findeth  to  do, 
may  we  do  it  with  our  might  :  that  when  Thou  shalt  call  Thy 
laborers  to  give  them  theu'  reward,  we  may  so  have  run  that  we 
may  obtain ;  so  have  fought  the  good  fight  as  to  receive  the 
crown  of  eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 


THIRD  FRIDAY.  95 


d^irti  ftiaav. 


Let  tliis  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus,  who 
made  Himself  of  no  reputation,  and  took  upon  Him  the  form 
of  a  servant,  and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  men ;  and  being 
found  in  fashion  as  a  man  He  humbled  Himself  and  became 
obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the  Cross. 

He  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted. 

Be  at  peace  among  yourselves. 

If  when  ye  do  well  and  suffer  for  it  ye  take  it  patiently,  this 
is  acceptable  with  God. 

What  our  Lord  came,  above  all  things,  to  teach 
us,  what  He  taught  us,  what  He  teaches  us  now,  by 
His  very  Being  as  Man,  what  He  preached  in  act 
from  His  birth  in  the  manger  to  His  death  upon 
the  Cross,  what  He  made  the  first  step  to  His  Apos- 
tles who  were  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  to  "  be- 
come as  little- children."  Such  rules  as  these  may  be 
useful.     They  have  been  tried. 

Know  thyself !  Pray  God  to  show  thee  thyself. 
Bear  in  God's  light  to  see  thyself,  bared  of  all  out- 
ward advantages,  what  thou  thyself  hast  made  thy- 


96         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

self,  what  thou  hast  been,  what  thou  art.  By  God's 
grace,  the  sight  will  never  again  let  thee  be  proud. 

Keep  ever  present  with  thee  the  knowledge  of 
thine  own  infirmity.  Never  seek  praise,  nor  speak 
of  any  good  in  thee,  except  for  some  good  end,  nor 
say  what  may  draw  out  praise.  Yea  rather  if  it 
be  useful  to  speak  of  thine  own  experience,  it  is  best 
mostly  to  hide,  in  some  true  way,  that  it  is  thine 
own. 

Do  not  even  blame  thyself  if  it  makes  others 
think  thee  humble. 

Mistrust  thyself  in  everything,  and  in  the  very 
least  things  seek,  whenever  thou  canst  remember  it, 
the  help  of  God. 

Be  afraid  of  the  praise  of  others.  If  there  be 
good  in  thee,  own  it  at  least  in  thine  heart  to  be 
God's,  and  think  of  thy  evil  and  thy  sins. 

Take  patiently  any  humiliation  from  others.  It  is 
a  precious  gift  of  God.  "  Humiliation  is  the  way  to 
humility,  as  patience  to  peace,  reading  to  knowl- 
edge." If  thou  endurest  not  to  be  humblec?,  thou 
canst  not  be  humble. 

In  all  things  humble  thyself  under  .the  Hand  of 
God.  Take  all  things,  through  whomsoever  they 
come,  as  from  Him. 

Do  not  excuse  thyself,  if  blamed,  unless  respect, 
or  love,  or  the  cause  of  truth  and  of  God  require  it. 


THIED  FRIDAY.  97 

It  is  of  more  value  to  thee,  to  detect  one  grain  of 
fault  in  thyself  than  to  show  that  thou  deservest  not, 
as  it  were,  a  hundred  weight  of  blame. 

Be  not  careful  to  conceal  any  ignorance  or  fault  in 
thee,  unless  it  would  hurt  another  to  know  thou 
hast  it. 

Do  willingly  humble  offices,  humbly. 

It  is  but  for  a  short  time  at  the  longest.  Seek 
here  to  be  humble  with  the  humble  Jesus,  and  He 
will  exalt  thee.  As  thou  becomest,  by  His  grace, 
lowly  here,  thou  shalt  be  exalted  there.  There  is 
greatness,  which  none  envies ;  treasures,  of  which 
thou  wilt  deprive  none ;  joys,  in  which  all  will  joy 
with  thee.  There,  not  thine  own  lips,  or  thine  own 
thoughts,  but  thy  Saviour  will  praise  thee.  Seek 
humility  and  thou  wilt  find  it,  and  when  thou  hast 
found  it  thou  wilt  love  it,  and  by  God's  grace  wilt 
not  part  mth  it ;  with  it  thou  canst  not  perish.  Yea, 
thou  wilt  reign  forever  with  Jesus,  who  was  hum- 
bled for  thee,  and  with  the  choirs  in  the  heavenly 
dwellings.  For  there  too  thou  wilt  be  humble,  not 
as  now  in  the  need  of  all  things,  but  in  the  posses- 
sion of  all  things,  in  glory,  and  honor,  and  power, 
and  beauty,  and  knowledge,  and  wisdom,  of  which 
we  have  but  the  faintest  shadow  here  ;  and  all  from 
God,  and  in  God.  For  there,  if  thou  attain,  thou 
shalt   cast   thy   crown    before    the    throne,   saying. 


98         NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

"  Thou  art  worthy,  O  Lord,  to  receive  glory,  and 
honor,  and  power ;  "  and  giving  back  all  to  God, 
thou  shalt  receive  all  from  God,  in  bliss  everlasting, 
through  His  Merits  who  humbled  Himself  to  thee, 
that  thou  being  humbled  with  Him  here  shouldst 
enter  into  His  glory  and  His  joy. 

One  evening,  in  a  self-exultant  mood, 

Unto  myself  I  cried, 
"  Surely  mine  actions  of  this  day  were  good, 

And  I  may  rest  to-night  well  satisfied. 
I  will  the  records  note." 
My  pen,  how  readily  it  wrote 
A  tale  of  service  unto  God  and  man. 
Once  more  the  page  to  scan 
I  cast  mine  eye ; 
And  in  a  halo  of  bright  vanity 

The  letters  seemed  to  float. 
Deeming  at  length  the  ink  was  dry 

I  closed  the  book; 
But  on  the  morrow  when  I  came  to  look 
Into  this  diary  so  fair  once  more, 

I  found,  with  pain  and  ruth, 

Instead  of  that  of  truth 
That  I  had  used  the  ink  of  pride, 

Which  had  not  dried; 
And  through  this  sad  mistake 
My  treasured  page  was  blotted  o'er  and  o'er, 

And  it  from  out  the  book  I  tore ; 
And  on  the  next  I  penciled  this  short  line  — 

"  For  Thy  Son's  sake 


THIRD   FRIDAY.  99 

Forgive  the  sin  of  every  deed  of  mine." 
These  words  transfigured  into  gold  did  shine. 

f\  LORD  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Son  of  God,  who  wast  given 
^-^  both  to  be  a  sacrifice  for  sin  and  also  an  ensample  of 
godly  life,  who  didst  bid  us  take  up  our  cross  daily  and  follow 
Thee,  make,  we  pray  Thee,  the  yoke  of  Thy  commandments 
sweet,  and  the  burden  of  Thy  cross  light,  unto  our  souls. 
Conform  Thy  servants,  O  Lord,  to  the  likeness  of  Thy  passion. 
Give  us  grace,  O  Eternal  Father,  that  we*  strive  to  keep  the 
way  of  the  holy  cross,  and  carry  in  our  hearts  the  image  of 
Jesus  crucified.  Make  us  cheerfully  resign  ourselves  to  Thy 
divine  will,  that,  being  fashioned  after  His  life-giving  death, 
we  may  die  according  to  the  flesh,  and  live  according  to  the 
spirit  of  righteousness,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord  and  only 
Saviour.     Amen. 


100        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT, 


Cl^irii  ^aturua^. 


Till  we  all  come  in  tlie  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ:  that  we  henceforth  be 
no  more  children,  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  carried  about  with 
every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight  of  men  and  cunning  craft- 
iness, whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive  :  but  speaking  the 
truth  in  love  may  grow  up  into  Him  in  all  things  which  is  the 
Head,  even  Christ. 

Have  true  and  sublime  ideals  for  your  youthful 
fervor.  These  will  preserve  it  to  old  age.  Aspire 
ardently  after  truth,  purity,  many-sided  charity, 
holiness  of  life ;  let  everything  else  be  put  under 
these  things.  Be  convinced  of  great  truths,  feel  in 
the  depths  of  your  heart  their  beauty  and  their 
force.  Be  able  to  say,  "  I  know  that  God  is  my 
Father,  and  the  Father  of  mankind;  I  know  that 
the  world  and  I  have  a  Redeemer  from  evil ;  I  know 
that  mankind  has  been  made  Divine  in  Christ;  I 
know  that  there  is  a  Divine  Spirit  in  me  and  in 
Mankind,  who  is  educating  us  towards  the  perfect 


THIRD   SATURDAY.  101 

life.  I  know  One  who  is  the  Resurrection  and  the 
Life  to  all  mankind."  You  cannot  be  convinced  of 
mighty  truths  like  these  without  being  set  on  fire 
by  them,  and  the  fire  will  kindle  every  intellectual 
and  imaginative  enthusiasm  which  you  possess  into 
an  abiding  ardor  of  action  so  instinct  with  that  from 
which  it  flowed,  that  it  will  propagate  the  sacred 
energy  and  set  others  on  fire  with  the  same.  In 
this  manner  seek  to  correct  and  develop  your  youth- 
fulness  of  nature  in  the  midst  of  advancing  years. 
By  and  by  calm  will  come  —  not  the  calm  of  stag- 
nation, but  the  calm  which  sits  in  the  midst  of  in- 
tensity of  feeling.  That  which  disturbs  and  tosses 
our  unregulated  enthusiasm  is  vanity  —  desire  of 
fame  —  the  intruding  element  of  personal  interests. 
Our  fervor  of  spirit  becomes  quiet,  yet  strong,  when 
its  highest  impulse  is  beyond  ourselves,  when  we  can 
fix  our  most  ardent  wishes  upon  Christ,  and  find  in 
Him  the  source  of  a  sustained  aspiration.  For  it  is 
not  only  truths  which  inspire  us,  but  truths  em- 
bodied in  One  whom  we  can  love.  Pride,  selfishness, 
want  of  charity,  may  creep  in  when  we  devote  our- 
selves to  noble  ideas  alone.  But  when  we  love  them 
in  a  perfect  Person  who  loves  us,  seK  and  conceit 
are  wholly  lost,  and  in  their  loss  calm  is  made  coor- 
dinate with  ardent  feeling.  The  most  inspiring  ideal 
of  the  Apostle  Paul  is  when  he  holds  out  to  the  dis- 


102        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

ciple  the  prospect  of  coming  in  the  knowledge  of 
the  Son  of  God  to  a  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fullness  of  Christ. 

Dear  Lord,  of  all  the  "words  of  thine 
Which  for  our  comfort  ring  and  shine 
Through  sacred  air,  on  sacred  page, 
From  sacred  lips  in  every  age. 
No  one  has  brought  such  blessed  cheer 
To  me,  —  no  one  is  half  so  dear, 
No  one  so  surely  cometh  home 
To  every  soul,  as  this  which  from 
A  pure  heart  wrung  with  sorrow  came, 
"  For  He  remembereth  our  frame." 

Not  merely  that  He  can  forgive, 
And  for  His  love's  sake  bid  us  live 
When  we  in  trespasses  and  sins 
Are  dead  —  but  that  our  weakness  wins 
From  Him  such  pity  as  alone 
To  fathers'  yearning  hearts  is  known ; 
Such  pity  that  He  even  calls 
Us  sons,  and  in  our  lowest  falls 
Sees  never  utter,  hopeless  shame, 
*' For  He  remembereth  our  frame." 

Dear  Lord,  to  Thee,  a  thousand  years 
Are  as  a  day;  with  contrite  tears 
One  prayer  I  pray !    My  little  life,  — 
Its  good,  its  ill,  its  grief,  its  strife,  — 
Oh,  let  it  in  Thy  holy  sight. 
Like  empty  watches  of  a  night, 


THIRD   SATURDAY.  103 

Forgotten  be  !     And  of  my  name, 
Dear  Lord,  who  knowest  all  our  frame, 
Let  there  remain  no  memory- 
Save  of  the  thing  I  longed  to  be  ! 

T  IGHTEN  our  hearts,  O  Lord,  Lover  of  mankind,  with  the 
incorruptible  light  of  Thy  divine  knowledge,  and  open 
the  eyes  of  our  understanding,  that  we  may  discern  the  truth  of 
thy  joyful  tidings.  Implant  in  us  the  blessed  fear  of  Thy  com- 
mandments, so  that,  treading  under  foot  all  carnal  desires,  we 
may  begin  to  lead  a  spiritual  life,  our  only  thought  being  to  please 
Thee.  For  Thou  art  the  light  of  our  hearts  and  souls,  O  God 
Christ,  and  to  Thee  we  render  the  glory,  and  to  Thy  eternal 
Father,  and  to  Thy  most  holy  and  good  and  life-giving  Spirit, 
now  and  forever,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


104        KEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


Cl^ttti  ^uitDat 


And  he  looked  up  steadfastly  into  heaven,  and  said,  Behold 
I  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  man  standing  on  the 
right  hand  of  God. 

No  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  to  be  joyous,  but 
grievous ;  nevertheless  afterward  it  yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit 
of  righteousness  unto  them  which  are  exercised  thereby. 

Consider  Him  that  endured  such  contradiction  of  sinners 
against  Himself,  lest  ye  be  wearied  and  faint  in  your  minds. 

Since  whatsoever  befalls  us  of  suffering  or  ill  is, 
however  it  comes,  the  will  of  God  to  us,  what  then 
should  we  do  when  it  comes  ?  Surely  forget,  as  far 
as  we  may,  all  besides,  and  go  up  in  thought  to  the 
Eternal  Throne,  and  behold  in  mind  the  heavens 
opened  and  Jesus  standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God, 
thence  looking  down  upon  us,  allotting  to  us  our 
trials,  even  through  the  wrong  tempers  of  men ; 
thence  passing  down  his  strength  to  us,  to  bear  them  ; 
thence  preparing  us  for  the  place  in  heaven  which 
He  ascended  on  high  to  prepare  for  us.  Oh  how  do 
all  the  ills  of  life  fade  into  nothing ;  how  glad  may 


THIRD   SUNDAY.  105 

any  trial  be,  though  painful  to  flesh  and  blood ;  how- 
should  we  greet  as  goods  the  evils  of  life  ;  how  would 
its  sadness  become  gladness,  its  thorns  a  crown,  if  we 
but  see  in  them  the  Eternal  Hand  of  God,  moulding 
us  by  them  for  everlasting  glory ;  refining  away, 
through  outward  ills,  our  own  inward  evils  ;  chasten- 
ing us,  that  we  might  not  perish,  checking  us,  that 
we  might  not  go  astray ;  recalling  us  when  astray  ; 
alluring  us  by  His  goodness  ;  and  then  again  wean- 
ing us  from  the  world  by  its  very  unrest  and  suffer- 
ing, that  in  Him  we  might  find  everlasting  rest  and 
peace. 

"  There  should  be  no  greater  comfort  to  Christian 
persons,"  our  Church  teaches  when  we  are  sick, 
"  than  to  be  made  like  unto  Christ,  by  suffering  pa- 
tiently adversities,  troubles,  and  sicknesses.  For  He 
Himself  went  not  up  to  joy,  but  first  He  suffered 
pain  ;  He  entered  not  into  His  Glory  before  He  was 
crucified.  So  truly  our  way  to  eternal  joy  is  to  suffer 
here  with  Christ ;  and  our  door  to  enter  into  eternal 
life  is  gladly  to  die  with  Christ,  that  we  may  rise 
again  from  death,  and  dwell  with  Him  in  everlasting 
life." 

Death,  sickness,  pain  of  body  and  soul,  came  to  us 
by  sin.  We  are  sinners  sick  in  soul,  more  or  less, 
whether  we  know  our  sickness  or  not.  They  know 
their  sickness  best  who  are  least  sick.    It  is  th-e  worst 


106        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

sickness  not  to  know  that  we  are  sick.  St.  John, 
whom  Jesus  loved,  says,  "If  we  say  that  we  have  no 
sin,  we  deceive  ourselves."  Life  is  one  long  sickness, 
in  which  those  of  us  who  are  using  God's  grace  are 
regaining  our  health,  until  the  time  come,  when 
He  who  "  forgiveth  all  our  sins,"  shall  "  heal  all 
our  infirmities,  and  crown  us  with  mercy  and  loving- 
kindness." 

"  No  chastening  for  the  present  seemeth  to  be  joy- 
ous but  grievous  "  Every,  the  least,  trial  has  its 
own  weight.  Were  it  not  so,  people  would  not  bear 
trials  so  ill.  It  is  not  lack  of  faith  to  feel  an  ill,  nor 
to  be  oppressed  by  it,  nor  to  be  "  heavy  and  exceed- 
ing sorrowful  under  it."  Our  loving  Lord  sanctified 
such  human  feelings  by  the  heaviness  which,  in  the 
garden.  He  allowed  to  come  over  His  soul.  The 
heart  may,  and  must,  rise  and  sink  ;  we  can  by  God's 
grace,  control  it,  hold  it  down,  keep  it  outwardly 
still,  hinder  it  from  having  any  wrong  vent ;  we  can- 
not hush  its  beatings.  Hard  words  will  vex  ;  un- 
kindness  will  pierce  ;  neglect  will  wound  ;  threatened 
evils  will  make  the  soul  quiver  ;  sharp  pain  or  weari- 
ness will  rack  the  body,  or  make  it  restless ;  cold  ivill 
fret  the  frame  ;  hunger  will  gnaw  it.  But  what  says 
the  Psalmist  ?  "  When  my  heart  is  vexed,  I  will 
complain."     To  whom  ?     Not  of  God,  but  to  God. 

As  thou  learnest  this  lesson,  to  carry  all  thy  sor- 


THIRD   SUNDAY.  107 

rows  to  God,  and  lie  at  the  Saviour's  feet,  and 
spread  thy  griefs  before  Him,  thou  wilt  find  a  calm 
come  over  thee,  thou  knowest  not  whence.  Thy 
heart  will  still  rise  and  sink,  not  restlessly,  nor  way- 
wardly,  not  in  violent  gusts  of  passion  ;  but  whether 
rising  or  sinking,  amid  all  outward  heavings  of  this 
world's  waves,  resting  in  stillness  on  the  bosom  of  the 
ocean  of  the  Love  of  God. 

Then  shalt  thou  learn,  not  to  endure  only  pa- 
tiently, but,  in  everything  against  thy  will  humbly 
and  quickly  to  see  and  to  love  the  loving  Will  of  God. 
Thy  faith  and  thy  love  and  thy  hope  will  grow,  the 
more  thou  seest  the  work  of  God  with  thee  ;  thou 
wilt  joy  in  thy  sorrow,  and  thy  sorrow  will  be  turned 
into  joy.  It  will  be  a  joy  to  thee,  to  be  likened  in 
suffering  to  thy  Lord,  even  though  it  be  like  the 
dying  robber  at  His  side. 

Upon  my  lips  she  laid  her  touch  divine, 

And  merry  speech  and  careless  laughter  died; 

She  fixed  her  melancholy  eyes  on  mine, 
And  would  not  be  denied. 

I  saw  the  west  wind  loose  his  cloudlets  white, 
In  flocks  careering  through  the  April  sky; 

I  could  not  sing  though  joy  was  at  its  height, 
For  she  stood  silent  by. 

I  watched  the  lovely  evening  fade  away, 
A  mist  was  lightly  drawn  across  the  stars  ; 


108        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

She  broke  my  quiet  dream  —  I  heard  her  say, 
Behold  your  prison  bars  ! 

Earth's  gladness  shall  not  satisfy  your  soul  — 
The  beauty  of  the  world  in  which  you  live, 

The  crowning  grace  that  sanctifies  the  whole, 
That  I  alone  can  give. 

I  heard  and  shrank  away  from  her  afraid, 
But  Sorrow  held  me,  and  would  still  abide  ; 

Youth's  bounding  pulses  slackened  and  obeyed 
With  slowly  ebbing  tide. 

"  Look  thou  beyond  the  evening  sky,"  she  said, 
' '  Beyond  the  changing  splendors  of  the  day ; 
Accept  the  pain,  the  weariness,  the  dread, 
Accept  and  bid  me  stay." 

I  turned  and  clasped  her  close  with  sudden  strength, 

And  slowly,  sweetly,  I  became  aware. 
Within  my  arms  God's  angel  stood  at  length, 

White-robed,  and  calm,  and  fair. 

And  now  I  look  beyond  the  evening  star. 
Beyond  the  changing  splendors  of  the  day. 

Knowing  the  pain  He  sends  more  precious  far. 
More  beautiful  than  they. 

nnHOU,  O  Lord  Jesus,  art  both,  to  me,  the  Mirror  of  sufPer- 
ing  and  the  Reward  of  the  sufferer.  Each  strongly  urges 
me  on,  and  mightily  kindles  me.  Thou  teachest  my  hands  to 
fight,  by  the  example  of  Thy  virtue.  Thou,  after  victory, 
crownest  my  head  with  the  presence  of  Thy  Majesty.    Whether 


THIRD   SUNDAY.  109 

I  look  on  Thee  fighting,  or  look  for  Thee,  not  crowning  only, 
but  the  Crown,  both  ways  Thou  allurest  me  wondrously.  Both 
ways  art  Thou  a  most  mighty  cord  to  draw  me.  Draw  me 
after  Thee  ;  gladly  do  I  follow  Thee,  more  gladly  to  enjoy 
Thee.  And  with  all  Thy  saints  I  will  praise  Thee,  world  with- 
out end  I    Amen, 


no  NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


Cl^irD  iHontiat 


And  about  the  eleventh  hour  he  went  out,  and  found  others 
standing  idle,  and  saith  unto  them,  Why  stand  ye  here  all  the 
day  idle?  They  say  unto  him,  Because  no  man  hath  hired  us. 
He  saith  unto  them.  Go  ye  also  into  the  vineyard. 

Seek  ye  j&rst  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness. 

The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink. 

Many  disquisitions  have  been  written  to  explain 
this  doctrine  of  the  eleventh  hour.  There  is  no  very 
dark  difficulty  or  obscurity  about  it.  No  one  para- 
ble is  made  to  illustrate  with  precision  every  point  it 
seems  to  touch.  What  Christ  plainly  meant  is  this  : 
not  that  it  is  as  well  to  turn  and  serve  and  confess 
him,  late  in  life  as  early ;  not  that  there  is  no  pecul- 
iar blessing  on  the  beautiful  and  acceptable  vows 
of  childhood's  consecration,  and  the  piety  that  grows 
and  strengthens  as  we  grow  in  stature  and  in  years  ; 
not,  above  all,  that  any  sinner  who  purposely  post- 
pones his  submission  to  gain  time  for  transgression 
and  neglect  can  look  for  his  Lord's  acceptance  ;  but 
this  rather,  —  that  the  earnestness  and  sincerity  of  a 


THIRD   MONDAY.  Ill 

soul's  conversion  is  of  more  consequence  than  the 
time  of  it.  In  these  great  interests  and  concern- 
ments of  eternity,  the  element  of  time  falls  very  much 
out  of  the  question.  It  is  not,  "  When  did  you 
come?  "  but  "  Have  you  come  at  all?"  It  is  not, 
"  How  long  may  I  put  off  being  blessed  with  peace 
and  glory  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  then  have  it  after 
all  ?  "  —  but  it  is,  "  How  soon  may  I  make  sure  of 
that  power  and  that  peace,  and  let  that  glory  fall  in 
on  my  saved  and  thankful  heart  ?  "  It  is  a  present 
command;  not  for  yesterday,  not  for  to-morrow; 
not  a  message  of  despair  that  the  great  work  was 
not  done  sooner ;  not  a  message  of  delay,  as  if  it 
could  as  well  be  done  later.  It  is  for  the  passing 
hour.  It  is  for  this  accepted  time.  "  Go  ye,"  now, 
while  the  day  lasts.  Where  does  this  vineyard  of 
Christian  service  lie  ?  Is  it  somewhere  outside  the 
limits  of  the  world's  common  work  ?  Is  it  so 
bounded  off  from  the  ordinary  vineyards  or  every- 
day employments  by  visible  lines,  —  as  a  state  is 
from  the  states  which  lie  around  it,  —  that  in  order 
to  enter  it  you  must  leave  all  these,  and  in  order  to 
work  in  them  you  must  forsake  this?  So  taught, 
too  much,  a  corrupt  and  morbid  religion  which  was 
never  learned  of  Jesus  and  His  Apostles,  and  which 
we  hope,  is  fast  losing  its  superstitious  hold,  never  to 
yoke  the  mind  of  Christendom  again.     The  house- 


112        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

holder  of  the  parable  is  the  Lord  of  all  this  world 
and  of  all  its  lawful  labor.  His  vineyard  includes  all 
its  vineyards,  —  business,  study,  society,  and  home. 
They  belong  to  Him  ;  and  this  Kingdom,  as  surely 
as  it  is  planted  anywhere,  is  planted  in  the  midst  of 
them.  Whatever  work  is  done  for  Him  will  be  done 
in  them.  Whatever  workman  or  disciple  follows 
Him  will  be  found  in  some  of  them.  The  field  is 
the  world  ;  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man  ;  and  the 
Church  was  meant  to  sanctify  and  bless  every  part 
and  power  of  our  life. 

And  yet,  this  voice,  this  command,  this  vineyard, 
this  work,  all  imply  a  special  service,  a  special  char- 
acter, a  way  and  a  walk  through  this  world,  distinct 
from  the  world's  way,  and  more  distinct  from  any 
other  than  each  of  them  from  the  rest.  The  voice 
speaks  directly  into  the  midst  of  these  familiar  occu- 
pations and  multitudes  of  men,  and  says.  Come  out ; 
stand  forth ;  there  is  a  sense  in  which  you  must  be 
separate  ;  jou  must  go  spiritually  into  another  vine- 
yard ;  there  must  be  the  beginning  and  the  growth 
in  you  of  a  life  so  new  and  so  different,  —  i.  e.  so 
evidently  drawn  and  quickened  out  of  the  life  of 
the  Son  of  God,  that  men,  taking  knowledge  of  you, 
will  know  that  you  have  been  with  Jesus,  and  that 
your  inmost  strength  feeds  daily  on  Him.  Money 
must  be  got,  not  for  itself,  or  to  be  kept  and  counted, 


THIRD  MONDAY.  113 

but  for  Christian  uses.  There  must  be  no  mean  acts 
in  getting  it,  no  lying,  no  fraud,  no  greed,  no  dis- 
honest bargain  or  hollow  pretenses.  Houses  must 
be  kept  not  for  luxury  or  ostentation,  or  to  outdo 
other  houses  in  the  neighborhood,  not  as  animals' 
stalls  to  eat  and  drink  and  sleep  in,  not  as  wardrobes 
for*  dress,  or  mere  shelters  from  the  weather,  but  as 
the  generous  training-schools  of  noble  virtues,  nur- 
series of  pure  affections,  retreats  from  the  mad  fash- 
ions and  wearing  care  of  a  selfish  society,  oratories 
for  prayer.  Industry  must  start  from  a  new  point. 
Study  must  seek  a  superhuman  wisdom.  The  arts 
which  make  life  beautiful  must  illustrate  its  loftiest 
aims  and  inspire  it  with  spiritual  aspirations.  Nor 
is  this  all.  With  the  heart  you  must  believe  unto 
righteousness.  With  the  mouth  you  must  make  con- 
fession unto  salvation.  All  this  must  be  positive, 
earnest,  personal,  special,  and  manifest.  You  might 
be  the  most  punctilious  and  successful  merchant  in  the 
market,  the  ripest  scholar  in  the  schools,  the  most 
popular  and  brilliant  favorite  in  society,  and  the 
most  notable  and  amiable  housekeeper  in  the  town, 
—  and  yet,  your  Saviour  says,  except  it  is  all  done 
in  a  lowly  and  self-renouncing  faith  in  the  Son  of 
God,  crucified  for  you,  you  are  none  of  His.  For  at 
the  best  you  are  a  short-comer  and  offender,  and  the 
sentence  of  God's   pure  law   is   against  you.     You 


114        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

may  go  through  the  whole  Gospel,  with  all  its  large 
and  tender  and  free  and  merciful  offers  of  life  ever- 
lasting ;  wherever  you  stop  and  ask,  What  shall  I  do 
to  obtain  this  great  salvation  ?  the  answer  is  never, 
—  "  Redouble  your  business  enterprise  ;  extend  your 
secular  knowledge  ;  accomplish  yourself  in  the  agree- 
able qualities  of  good  society  ;  be  more  careful  or 
indefatigable  in  the  charge  of  your  earthly  house." 
The  answer  is  always  one  and  the  same  ;  Repent,  be- 
lieve, and  be  baptized  ;  take  up  the  cross,  and  be 
not  ashamed  of  your  Saviour  before  man.  Do  this, 
and  you  also  will  be  going  into  the  vineyard ;  after 
that,  you  will  put  your  faith  into  all  your  honest  and 
faithful  work,  and,  being  in  the  world,  will  not  be 
of  the  world.  The  stamp  of  another  loyalty  will 
be  upon  you.  The  spring  of  another  joy  and  liberty 
will  be  in  you.  The  difference  will  be  in  the  motive 
more  than  in  the  movement ;  in  the  spirit  more  than 
in  the  form.  And  then,  —not  till  then,  —  will  the 
great  end  and  object  of  your  creation,  as  a  spiritual 
being,  a  son  or  daughter  of  God,  begin  to  be  realized 
in  your  life. 

Into  a  vineyard  that  the  Lord  had  made 
I  hastened,  knowing  He  had  work  for  all, 
And  hearing  that  He  did  for  laborers  call; 

But  much  dismayed, 
Fearing,  however  I  might  toil, 
I  should  the  given  task  but  spoil. 


THIRD    MONDAY.  115 

was  so  afraid, 
Gave  me  a  simple  corner  in  the  shade, 
Where,  hidden  from  all  eyes  save  His  alone, 
The  passing  of  mere  prying  feet. 
The  noon-tide  burden  and  the  heat 

Of  wide  renown, 
I  should  but  tend  some  seeds  that  He  had  sown 

Till  they  were  grown. 
Oh  with  what  blessedness  and  heart-content 
I  kept  the  well-tilled  soil ! 
Though  others  might  have  smiled 
At  labor  suited  even  to  a  child, 
I  murmured  not  at  those  who  had  been  sent 
To  grander  vineyard  labors,  and  who  went 
Obedient  to  the  building  of  its  towers, 
While  my  poor  powers 
Were  equal  only  to  the  growth  of  flowers; 
My  conscience  and  my  Master  satisfied, 
I  cared  for  naught  beside. 

/^  LORD  Jesus  Christ,  who  for  our  sakes  didst  become  poor, 
^-^  that  we  through  Thy  poverty  might  be  rich,  and  didst 
teach  us  that,  in  ministering  to  the  very  least  of  Thy  members, 
we  might  minister  unto  Thyself,  find  us  some  lowly  work  to  do 
for  others,  and  give  us  grace  to  do  it  as  unto  Thee,  and  not  as 
unto  men,  that  we  may  receive,  not  for  our  labors,  but  for  Thy 
merits,  the  crown  of  everlasting  glory,  and  magnify  and  praise 
Thy  name,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


116        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


Cl^irti  Cwcssnar 


Quench  not  the  Spirit. 

When  [the  heart]  shall  turn  to  the  Lord,  the  vail  shall  be 
taken  away.  Now  the  Lord  is  that  Spirit  :  and  where  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  hberty.  But  we  all,  with  open 
face  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord. 

Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect. 

Never  should  we  let  tlie  world  and  its  work 
quench  the  demands  of  the  spirit  within  us  which  de- 
sires union  with  the  living  God.  If  you  allow  the 
noise  of  your  enthralling  business  to  drown  those  in- 
ward cries,  they  grow  fainter  then  and  fainter,  and 
the  spirit  falls  into  lethargy.  The  noblest  portion  of 
your  being  is  left  ignorant  as  an  infant.  Is  that  to 
be  a  complete  man  ? 

Feed  that  immortal  thing  with  its  true  food,  love 
to  God,  which  is  love  to  God's  character  in  Christ ; 
open  its  doors  to  the  education  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  be  not  troubled  but  rather  nobly  proud,  if  your 
spirit,  trained  by  His  power,  prevent  some  of  those 


THIRD   TUESDAY.  117 

many  transactions  in  public  life  which  make  a  for- 
tune by  running  to  the  very  edge  of  dishonesty,  or 
hinder  you  from  taking  a  place  the  comfort  of  which 
would  have  to  be  bought  by  the  sacrifice  of  convic- 
tions. A  fortune  —  a  position  —  these  are  not  the 
first  things,  in  spite  of  the  lying  world  which  says 
they  are.  The  spirit  which  can  hold  fast  to  truth, 
though  it  means  the  acceptance  of  ruin  —  the  spirit 
which  can  refuse  to  be  enriched  at  the  expense  of 
honor  —  the  spirit  which  can  do  nothing  which  sins 
against  its  neighbor,  is  better  than  the  life  of  Dives 
or  the  leadership  of  the  fashionable  world. 

Let  your  effort  be  to  be  many-sided,  while  you 
cling  fast  to  your  particular  work.  This  is  our 
Christian  duty.  For  Christ  came  to  save  the  whole 
of  our  nature,  to  present  us,  at  the  end,  body,  soul, 
and  spirit,  perfect  to  his  Father. 

Our  morality  becomes  formal.  Truth,  purity,  and 
the  rest  become  habits,  like  the  habit  of  walking. 
Beware  lest  they  become  Pharisaic,  and  pass  from 
habits  into  mere  forms.  There  is  but  one  way  of 
avoiding  this,  and  that  is  by  cherishing  a  great  aim, 
which  will  not  let  us  be  satisfied.  Christ  gives  us 
that  aim :  "  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your 
Father  in  heaven  is  perfect."  And  He  Himself  sup- 
plies the  motive,  for  the  great  love  which  we  nourish 
to  Him  will  sweep  us  continually  out  of  the  region  of 


118        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

formal  morality  into  that  realm  where  the  life  of  self- 
sacrifice  produces  natural  and  noble  action. 

Our  business  is  to  go  forward  and  to  redeem  the 
past.  We  ma}^  not  get  back  the  freshness  of  early 
inspiration ;  but  we  may  attain  something  better  — 
the  resolute  heart  of  noble  faith,  which,  trusting  in  a 
Saviour  of  men,  has  the  confidence  to  take  up  duty 
for  his  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  men  his  brothers, 
and,  though  failure  and  failure  come,  to  win  at  last, 
through  the  doing  of  duty,  those  profounder,  calmer 
and  more  enduring  feelings  of  nearness  to  God,  which 
will  bear  the  test  of  time  and  overcome  at  the  end 
the  shame  and  fear  of  death. 

Oh  the  bitter  shame  and  sorrow, 

That  a  time  could  ever  be 
When  I  Ijet  the  Saviour's  pity- 
Plead  in  vain,  and  proudly  answered, 
"  All  of  self,  and  none  of  Thee." 

Yet  He  found  me ;  I  beheld  Him 
Bleeding  on  the  accursed  tree, 
Heard  Him  pray,  "  Forgive  them.  Father  !  " 
And  my  wistful  heart  said  faintly, 
*'  Some  of  self,  and  some  of  Thee." 

Day  by  day  His  tender  mercy, 

Healing,  helping,  full  and  free, 
Sweet  and  strong,  and  ah  !  so  patient, 
Brought  me  lower,  while  I  whispered, 
*'  Less  of  self,  and  more  of  Thee." 


THIRD  TUESDAY.  119 

Higher  than  the  highest  heavens, 

Deeper  than  the  deepest  sea, 
Lord,  Thy  love  at  last  hath  conquered  ; 
Grant  me  now  my  soul's  desire  — 
*'  None  of  self,  and  all  of  Thee." 

/^  HOLY  Christ,  King  of  patriarchs  and  light  of  the 
prophets  ;  master  of  the  apostles  and  the  fortitude  of 
martyrs  ;  the  crown  of  the  just  made  perfect  in  heaven,  and  the 
only  hope  of  Thy  servants  on  earth,  grant  to  us  Thy  weak  and 
wandering  followers  that  Thy  great  name  may  be  sanctified  by 
us  on  the  earth  as  it  is  by  the  blessed  spirits  in  heaven  ;  that 
beholding  the  beauty  of  Thy  righteousness  we  may  be  trans- 
formed into  Thy  likeness  ;  that  we  may  always  and  everywhere 
behave  ourselves  as  in  Thy  pure  and  immaculate  presence, 
carefully  endeavoring  while  we  acknowledge  the  wonders  of  Thy 
power  to  keep  and  obey  Thy  commandments,  and  never  to  lose 
our  souls,  or  our  portion  in  Thee,  though  it  were  to  gain  the 
whole  world.  Hear  us,  O  Christ,  for  Thy  great  goodness'  sake. 
Amen. 


120        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


ifomtt)  mtmmav* 


Tribulation  worketh  patience,  and  patience  experience,  and 
experience  hope. 

In  patience  possess  ye  your  souls. 

Even  hereunto  were  ye  called:  because  Christ  also  suffered 
for  us,  leaving  us  an  example,  that  ye  should  follow  His  steps. 

Patience  is  the  endurance  of  any  evil,  out  of 
the  love  of  God,  as  the  will  of  God.  There  is  noth- 
ing too  little,  in  which  to  approve  ourselves  to  God  ; 
nothing  too  little,  in  which,  without  God,  we  should 
not  fail ;  nothing  too  great,  which,  with  the  help  of 
God,  we  may  not  endure.  The  ojBBces  of  patience 
are  as  varied  as  the  ills  of  this  life.  We  have  need 
of  it  with  ourselves  and  with  others  ;  with  those 
below  and  those  above  us,  and  with  our  own  equals ; 
with  those  who  love  us  and  those  who  love  us  not; 
for  the  greatest  things  and  for  the  least  ;  against 
sudden  inroads  of  trouble  and  under  our  daily  bur- 
dens ;  disappointments  as  to  the  weather  or  the 
breaking  of  the  heart,  in  the  weariness  of  the  body, 
or  the  wearing  of  the  soul ;  in  our  own  failure  of 


FOURTH  WEDNESDAY.  121 

duty,  or  in  other's  failure  towards  us ;  in  every  day 
wants,  or  in  the  aching  of  sickness  or  the  decay  of 
age ;  in  disappointment,  bereavement,  losses,  injuries, 
reproaches  ;  in  heaviness  of  the  heart  or  its  sickness 
amid  delayed  hopes,  or  the  weight  of  this  body  of 
death,  from  which  we  would  be  free,  that  we  may 
have  no  more  struggle  with  sin  within,  or  temptation 
without,  but  attain  to  our  blessed  and  everlasting 
peace  in  our  rest  in  God.  In  all  these  things,  from 
childhood's  little  troubles  to  the  martyr's  sufferings, 
patience  is  the  grace  of  God,  whereby  we  endure 
evil  for  the  love  of  God,  and  keep  ourselves  still  and 
motionless,  that  we  offend  not  God. 

All  other  virtues  and  graces  have  need  of  patience 
to  perfect  or  to  secure  them.  Patience  interposes 
herself  and  receives  and  stops  every  dart  which  the 
evil  one  aims  at  them.  "  Patience  is  the  root  and 
guardian  of  all  virtue  ;  "  impatience  is  th«  enemy  of 
all.  Impatience  disquiets  the  soul,  makes  her  weary 
of  conflict,  ready  to  lay  aside  her  armor  and  to  leave 
difficult  duty.  Impatience,  by  troubling  the  smooth 
mirror  of  the  soul,  hinders  her  from  reflecting  the 
face  of  God  ;  by  its  din,  it  hinders  her  from  hear- 
ing the  voice  of  God.  It  makes  the  soul  outrun  or 
fall  short  of  the  will  of  God.  Impatience  listens 
to  nothing,  heeds  nothing,  fears  nothing,  hopes  noth- 
ing, judges  aright  of  nothing,  perseveres  in  nothing 


122        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

except  in  restlessness.  Impatience  is  a  burden  to 
itself,  distrusts  man,  rebels  against  God.  It  shakes 
every  virtue  and  enters  into  almost  every  sin.  It 
casts  aside  every  remedy  for  itself  or  for  any  other 
fault.  Impatience  made  Cain  a  murderer,  and  Ab- 
salom a  parricide,  and  Judas  a  Deicide.  Impatience, 
not  waiting  for  God,  turns  even  goods  into  evils. 

How  does  it  shake  faith  to  be  impatient  of  evils, 
either  in  the  world,  or  in  the  Church,  or  those  which 
befall  a  person's  own  self  !  How  does  impatience 
with  others'  defects  chill  love,  or  impatience  with 
even  our  own  failings  and  short-comings  extinguish 
hope  !  To  be  impatient  at  blame  is  a  blight  to 
humility ;  at  contradiction,  destroys  meekness  ;  at 
injuries,  quenches  long-suffering ;  at  sharp  words, 
mars  gentleness ;  at  having  one's  own  will  crossed, 
obedience.  Impatience  at  doing  the  same  thing 
again  and  again  hinders  perseverance ;  impatience 
of  bodily  wants  surprises  people  into  intemperance, 
or  leads  them  to  deceive,  lie,  steal. 

"  In  patience,"  our  blessed  Lord  tells  us,  "  possess 
ye  your  souls."  By  patience,  we  have  the  keeping 
of  our  own  souls  ;  we  command  ourselves,  and  our 
passions  are  subdued  to  us,  and  "  commanding  our- 
selves, we  begin  to  possess  that  which  we  are." 
What  is  it  to  possess  a  thing  but  to  have  entire  com- 
mand over  it,  that  we  may  do  with  it  what  we  will  ? 


FOURTH  WEDNESDAY.  123 

What,  then,  is  it  to  "  possess  the  soul,"  but  to  be 
lord  over  all  its  powers,  motions,  emotions,  and,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  to  control  and  direct  them  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  God  ?  Whence  even  the  World 
calls  a  man  "  self-possessed  "  who  cannot  be  thrown 
off  his  guard,  but,  gathered  up  within  himself,  and 
immovable,  has  a  clear,  steady  command  of  all  the 
powers  of  his  mind.  He  is  spiritually  "  self-possessed  " 
who  by  the  grace  of  God  so  keeps  himself,  that  "  no 
vehemence  of  delight  masters  him,  no  tribulation 
wears  him  out,  no  sudden  temptation  carries  him 
away,  no  unworthy  affection  draws  him  down  from 
God." 

A  ship  unlading,  busy  sea-brown  hands 

Are  lifting  blocks  of  marble,  one  by  one; 
Quarried  where  fair  Carrara's  golden  sands 

And  purple  hills  lie  sleeping  in  the  sun. 

The  workman  earned  his  share  of  daily  bread; 
The  merchant  counted  up  his  gains  in  gold; 
*'  What  un wrought  statues  there,"  the  artist  said, 
"  What  Unes  of  beauty,  rare  and  manifold! 

*'  What  grace  and  glory  from  these  blocks  shall  spring! 
What  light  shall  clothe  them  in  a  little  while ! 
This  shapeless  block,  in  beauty  blossoming, 

Shall  breathe  high  thoughts  or  wear  an  angel's  smile." 

O  Lives  that  in  a  martyr-army  stand, 
May  God's  sweet  message  come  to  you  and  me. 


124        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

"We  are  the  marble,  His  the  Sculptor-Hand 
That  fashions  us  for  all  eternity. 

We  only  feel  the  pain  His  chastenings  give; 

The  sharp  incisions  only  can  we  see. 
And  He  alone,  by  whom  we  move  and  live, 

He  sees  the  hidden  glory  that  shall  be. 

He  sees  the  glory  without  spot  or  stain, 

The  spiritual  beauty  all  unpriced; 
And  in  His  love  He  sends  each  stroke  of  pain 

To  make  us  like  our  dear  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

O  God  of  Love,  give  us  calm,  pitying  eyes 
And  sweetest  patience.    Let  us  also  see 

The  glory  and  the  grace  that  underlies 

Each  shapeless  mass  that  waits  a  touch  from  Thee. 

/^  HOLY,  blessed,  and  glorious  Lord,  blessed  forever  in 
Thy  patience  and  glorious  in  Thy  meekness,  we  beseech 
Thee  to  render  continual  help  to  us  Thy  inconstant  disciples, 
that  we  may  learn  to  serve  Thee  in  a  patience  and  meekness 
like  Thine  own,  in*  long-suffering  and  gentleness  of  heart,  in 
kindness  and  charity  towards  others,  in  self-distrust  and  sub- 
mission towards  Thee.  Dispose  us  cheerfully  and  steadfastly 
to  suffer  all  things  for  Thy  sake,  knowing  that  if  we  suffer 
patiently  with  Thee  here,  we  shall  reign  with  Thee  in  Thy 
glory  forever.  Grant  this,  O  Christ,  of  Thy  wonderful  com- 
passion, and  for  Thy  Love's  sake.     Amen, 


FOURTH  THURSDAY.  125 


ifourtl^  Cl^urjsDat 


So  run  that  ye  may  obtain.  Every  man  that  striveth  for  the 
mastery  is  temperate  in  all  things.  Now  they  do  it  to  obtain  a 
corruptible  crown;  but  we  an  incorruptible.  I  therefore  so  run, 
not  as  uncertainly ;  so  fight  I,  not  as  one  that  beateth  the  air. 
But  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  subjection,  lest 
that  by  any  means  when  I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself 
should  be  a  castaway. 

Even  the  youths  shall  faint  and  be  weary,  and  the  young  men 
shall  utterly  fall.  But  they  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  re- 
new their  strength;  they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles; 
they  shall  run  and  not  be  weary  ;  and  they  shall  walk  and 
not  faint. 

The  just  shall  be  as  the  light  of  the  morning,  when  the  sun 
riseth,  even  a  morning  without  clouds  ;  as  the  tender  grass 
springing  out  of  the  earth  by  clear  shining  after  rain. 

There  are  some  summer  days  which  after  a  clear 
morning  pass  through  a  season  of  gloom.  The  sun 
hides  itself  behind  a  veil  of  cloud  ;  depression  falls  on 
animals  and  plants.  All  things  retire  into  them- 
selves, as  if  defrauded  by  the  morning  brightness. 
The  day  itself  seems  to  feel  that  it  has  not  fulfilled 


126        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

the  prophecy  of  its  dawning,  and  lies  heavily  upon 
the  earth.  But  it  is  only  for  a  time.  Just  as  the 
manhood  of  the  day  has  come,  it  conquers  its  early 
sullenness  —  the  clouds  disperse,  the  sun  breaks  out, 
the  birds  resume  their  song,  a  new  youthfulness  runs 
through  the  trees. 

It  is  the  image  of  one  who,  having  in  later  youth 
passed  through  much  trouble,  and  lost  during  it  the 
use  and  joy  and  naturalness  of  youth,  recovers  these 
in  the  midst  of  manhood. 

There  are  certain  characters  which  in  youth  lose 
part  of  their  youth.  Something  has  stepped  in  which 
has  spoilt  life.  Sorrow  or  overwork  has  taken  the 
edge  from  enjoyment  by  taking  away  physical  health ; 
a  gloomy  home  has  repressed  enthusiasm  ;  a  willful 
self -repression,  born  of  religious  asceticism,  or  of  the 
demands  of  exacting  friendship,  has  driven  so  deep 
the  springs  of  natural  feeling  that  with  all  their  in- 
nate force  they  cannot  rise  to  refresh  the  surface  of 
the  heart.  Sometimes  these  characters  never  re- 
cover :  the  process  has  gone  too  far,  and  they  will 
never  taste  of  youth  again  till  they  go  home  to  God. 
Sometimes  they  turn  to  fanaticism  and  become  the 
curse  of  the  earth  ;  but  God,  who  knows  the  weak- 
ness of  men,  will  be  just  to  them  —  victims  of  fate  — 
and  remember  that  they  are  but  dust.  Sometimes 
this  repression,  especially  when  inflicted  by  religious 


FOURTH   THURSDAY.  127 

parents,  has  its  result  in  a  reaction  against  the 
tyranny  done  in  the  name  of  God,  and  nature  crushed 
in  its  natural  breaks  out  in  unnatural  channels.  The 
man  becomes  a  blasphemer  and  a  profligate.  The 
woman  flies  into  the  dissipation  of  the  world,  or 
meets  a  sadder  though  often  a  less  sinful  fate  —  the 
easy  victim  of  one  of  those  men  who  make  the 
murder  of  womanhood  their  vile  trade  and  viler 
pleasure. 

Now,  what  is  it  that  they  want  ?  —  for  it  is  plain 
that  the  inevitable  fault  of  such  characters  is  the  dis- 
sipation of  thought,  energy,  and  life.  They  want 
concentration  of  will  towards  a  single  and  a  noble 
aim ;  not  such  a  concentration  as  will  destroy  their 
youthful  feeling  or  injure  their  originality,  —  for  the 
very  fact  of  that  originality  in  the  midst  of  a  world 
enslaved  to  customs  is  more  than  other  men's  work, 
—  but  a  concentration  which  will  leave  their  nature 
free,  and  yet  make  its  freedom  strong  through  the 
rule  of  law. 

We  seek  this  concentration  in  one  aim  after  an- 
other. But  there  is  always  the  chance  of  failure, 
and  failure  is  followed  by  despondency,  and  despond- 
ency imprisons  energy,  and  life  is  spoilt.  Or  the 
aim  becomes  stained  with  a  mean  or  selfish  motive, 
and  we  are  then  haunted  with  the  sense  of  some- 
thing radically  wrong  in  us  which  strangles  all  en- 


128        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

deavor,  and  so  drift  back  into  our  aimless,  roving  life 
again. 

We  want  an  aim  whicli  never  can  grow  vile,  an 
aim  which  cannot  disappoint  our  hope.  There  is  but 
one  on  earth,  and  it  is  that  of  being  like  God.  He 
who  strives  after  union  with  the  perfect  Love  must 
grow  out  of  selfishness,  and  the  nobility  of  the  strife 
makes  meanness  impossible.  And  as  to  failure,  fail- 
ure is  out  of  the  question ;  our  success  is  secured 
in  the  omnipotent  Holiness  of  God. 

Concentrate,  then,  your  will  on  this.  Do  not  wish, 
but  will  to  be  at  one  with  God. 

Who  dreams  of  God  when  passionate  youth  is  nigh, 
When  first  life's  weary  waste  his  feet  have  trod  — 

Who  seeth  angels'  footfalls  in  the  sky, 
Working  the  works  of  God  ; 

His  sun  shall  fade  as  gently  as  it  rose. 

Through  the  dark  woof  of  death's  approaching  night; 
His  faith  shall  shoot,  at  life's  prophetic  close, 

Some  threads  of  golden  light. 

For  him  the  silver  ladder  shall  be  set  — 

His  Saviour  shall  receive  his  latest  breath  — 

He  walketh  to  a  fadeless  coronet. 
Up  through  the  gate  of  death  ! 

A  RM  us,  O  Lord,  with  Thy  Spirit,  encourage  us  with  Thy 

presence ;  and  let  us  feel  the  effectual  working  of  Thy 

power,  which  is  ever  made  perfect  through  weakness  ;  that  we 


FOURTH  THURSDAY.  129 

may  live  before  Thee  with  clean  hearts  and  undefiled  bodies, 
and  sanctified  spirits.  Send  us  strength  from  above,  that  we 
may  retain  our  integrity,  may  resist  the  enemy,  and  stand  stead- 
fast in  the  day  of  trial.  Be  Thou  our  strong  rock  and  castle  of 
defense  ;  that,  being  preserved  through  Thy  grace  and  assist- 
ance, we  may  continue  Thy  faithful  soldiers  and  servants  unto 
our  life's  end.  Nourish  all  the  seeds  of  grace  that  are  sown  in 
our  hearts,  and  make  them  fruitful  unto  every  good  word  and 
work.  Give  us  the  increase  of  faith,  hope,  charity,  and  all 
other  Christian  graces  ;  and  that  we  may  obtain  that  which 
Thou  dost  promise,  make  us  ever  to  love  that  which  Thou  dost 
command  ;  and  this  we  beg  through  the  merits  and  for  the 
sake  of  Thy  dear  Son,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 


130        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLT  LENT. 


•fourtl^  ifrinar 


This  is  my  commandment,  That  ye  love  one  another,  as  I 
have  loved  you. 

Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his 
life  for  his  friends. 

We  see  Jesus,  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels, 
for  the  suffering  of  death,  crowned  with  glory  and  honor;  that 
He  by  the  grace  of  God  should  taste  death  for  every  man. 

While  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us. 

We  are  told  of  self-sacrifice,  that  it  is  the  law  or 
moving  power  of  Christ's  kingdom  ;  it  is  certainl}^ 
far  from  being  the  law  of  natural  life,  yet  it  seems  to 
stir  the  heart,  even  as  beauty  moves  the  senses,  in- 
fallibly, by  touching  the  spring  of  some  hidden  sure 
affinity,  lying  deeper  than  the  nature  with  which  it 
seems  at  present  to  war.  Nothing  belonging  to 
Christ's  kingdom  tells  much  upon  the  world  which 
has  not  in  it  the  element  of  sacrifice  and  of  Christ- 
like willingness  to  participate  in  pain.  A  righteous 
man  may  effect  much  good,  through  beneficent  deeds 
and  wise  and  kind  plans,  for  the  benefit  of  others ; 
but  it  is  to  the  good  man,  the  man  for  whom  some 


FOURTH  FRIDAY.  131 

peradventure  would  even  dare  to  die,  the  man  who 
himself,  if  need  were,  would  die  for  men,  that  the 
hearts  of  men  cleave. 

When  the  saints  are  more  perfectly  joined  to 
Christ  than  they  can  be  in  this  present  dispensation, 
we  shall  find  that  to  be  with  Him  in  glory  will  be  to 
be  more  imbued  with  His  especial  law  of  life.  We 
shall  then  be  able  to  help  others  more  than  is  now 
possible.  Our  spirits,  set  free  from  the  law  of  self  in 
our  members  which  resists  the  law  of  love,  will  be 
able  to  do  and  bear  more  for  the  world,  so  long  as  it 
still  continues  a  suffering  world,  until  the  days  when 
death  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory. 

So  much,  even  in  the  natural  region,  is  often 
gained  by  contact  with  a  soul  at  once  stronger  and 
purer  than  our  own,  that  even  the  natural  heart  will 
claim  its  Saviour  ;  it  will  desire  one  who  has  given 
Himself  for  it  to  restore  it  to  purity  and  joy,  it  will 
ask  for  deliverance  through  one  more  mighty  than  it- 
self, for  communion  with  one  who  is  more  pure. 
Could  its  annals  ever  be  written,  they  would  tell  not 
only  of  martyrdoms,  of  self-abnegation  endured  in 
the  strength  of  merely  human  love,  but  also  of  mira- 
cles wrought  out  by  its  quickening,  energizing  power. 
How  many  lives  deadened  by  failure  and  disappoint- 
ment have  been  lifted  into  fresh  vigor  by  the  touch 
of  a  strong  and  friendly  hand  ;  how  many  depressed 


132        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

and  discouraged  spirits  has  the  warm  breath  of  kind- 
ness floated  into  an  atmosphere  in  which  their  own 
wings  can  expand,  a  sunshine  which  but  for  their 
blessed  intervention  they  would  have  never  reached. 
No  wonder,  then,  that  the  heart  of  man  should  feel 
strangely  yet  sweetly  at  home  in  the  region  of  spir- 
itual intervention  ;  no  wonder  that  expiation,  and  the 
giving  up  of  life  for  life,  that  intercession  for  others, 
which  is  but  the  practical  extension  of  the  atone- 
ment, the  pouring  out  of  one  human  soul  for  another 
in  prayer,  even  as  Christ's  soul  was  poured  forth  for 
the  world  in  agony  and  death,  should  become  the 
natural  language  of  every  heart  whose  highest  en- 
ergies divine  grace  has  touched  and  kindled  into  life. 
Intercession  is  the  mother-tongue  of  the  whole  family 
of  Christ. 

If  no  sin  could  be  discovered 

In  the  pure  and  spotless  Lord, 
If  tlie  cruel  death  He  suffered 

Is  sin's  just  and  meet  reward, 
Then  it  must  have  been  for  others 

That  the  Lord  on  Calvary  bled, 
And  the  guilt  have  been  a  brother's, 

Which  was  laid  upon  His  head. 

And  for  whom  hath  He  contended 

In  a  strife  so  strange  and  new  ? 
And  for  whom  to  hell  descended  ? 

Brothers  !  't  was  for  me  and  you  ! 


FOURTH   FRIDAY.  133 

Now  you  see  that  He  was  reaping 

Punisliment  for  us  alone  ; 
And  we  have  great  cause  for  weeping, 

Not  for  His  guilt,  but  our  own. 

0  CHRIST,  Son  of  God,  who  without  sin  wast  delivered 
unto  death,  and  caught  in  the  snare  of  the  hunters,  grant 
that  through  Thine  unmerited  death  the  death  which  we  merit 
may  be  overcome,  that  Thou,  who,  though  innocent,  wast  given 
up  for  us,  mayest  through  the  gift  of  innocency  make  us  to  come 
at  length  in  blessedness  to  Thee,  who  reignest  with  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  one  God,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


134        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


fJTourtl^  ^aturtia^ 


The  other  disciples  said  unto  Thomas,  We  have  seen  the 
Lord.  But  he  said  unto  them,  Except  I  shall  see  in  His  hands 
the  print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  finger  into  the  print  of 
the  nails,  and  thrust  my  hand  into  His  side,  I  will  not  be- 
lieve. 

And  after  eight  days  again  His  disciples  were  within,  and 
Thomas  with  them.  Then  came  Jesus,  the  doors  being  shut, 
and  stood  in  the  midst  and  said,  Peace  be  unto  you.  Then 
saith  He  to  Thomas,  Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold  my 
hands ;  and  reach  hither  thy  hand  and  thrust  it  into  my  side ; 
and  be  not  faithless  but  believing.  And  Thomas  answered 
and  said  unto  Him,  My  Lord,  and  my  God!  Jesus  saith  unto 
him,  Thomas,  because  thou  hast  seen  me  thou  hast  believed. 
Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed! 

A  STORY  is  told  in  the  life  of  Saint  Louis  of 
France,  how  a  great  master  in  theology  once  came 
to  Bishop  William  of  Paris  and  begged  to  speak 
to  him.  And  when  the  master  was  about  to  speak 
he  began  to  weep  very  bitterly ;  so  the  Bishop  said 
to  him,  "  Do  not  be  down-hearted,  for  no  one  can 
sin   so   much  that  God   cannot  forgive  yet  more." 


FOURTH   SATURDAY.  135 

The  master  then  explained  that  he  was  miserable 
and  no  better  than  an  infidel,  because  he  could  not 
bring  himself  to  believe  in  the  gracious  doctrine  of 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Supper.  "Master,"  said  the 
Bishop,  "  tell  me,  when  the  enemy  sends  you  this 
temptation,  is  it  pleasing  to  you  ?  "  To  which  the 
master  made  answer :  "  Sir,  on  the  contrary,  it  annoys 
me  as  much  as  anything  can  annoy  me."  "  Now, 
I  ask  you,"  continued  the  Bishop,  "  would  you  ac- 
cept gold  or  silver  on  condition  that  you  should  utter 
with  your  lips  something  against  the  Sacrament 
of  the  Supper?"  "I,  sir!"  exclaimed  the  master. 
"  Know  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  that  I 
would  accept  on  that  condition.  I  would  rather 
that  they  tore  all  my  Hmbs  out  of  my  body  than  say 
anything  of  the  kind."  "  I  will  now  say  something 
else  to  you,"  the  Bishop  observed.  "  You  are  aware 
that  the  King  of  France  is  at  war  with  the  King  of 
England;  and  you  are  also  aware  that  the  castle 
which  is  nearest  to  the  frontier  between  the  two  is 
La  Rochelle,  in  Poitou.  I  will  therefore  ask  you 
one  question  :  if  the  King  had  intrusted  you  with 
the  custody  of  La  Rochelle,  which  is  on  the  frontier, 
and  had  consigned  to  me  the  keeping  of  the  castle 
of  Laon,  which  is  in  the  heart  of  France,  and  in  a 
land  at  peace,  to  whom  ought  the  King  to  be  most 
grateful  at  the  end  of  his  war  —  to  you,  who  had 


136        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

guarded  La  Rochelle  witliout  losing  it,  or  to  me, 
who  had  guarded  Laon ? "  "In  Heaven's  name, 
sir,"  cried  the  master,  "it  would  be  to  me,  who  had 
guarded  La  Rochelle  without  losing  it."  "  Master," 
resumed  the  Bishop,  "  I  tell  you  that  my  heart  is  like 
the  castle  of  Laon,  for  I  have  no  temptation  or  doubt 
touching  the  Sacrament  of  the  Supper.  Wherefore 
I  say  to  you  that  for  once  God  is  pleased  with  me 
because  I  believe  steadfastly  and  in  peace ;  He  is 
pleased  four  times  with  you,  because  you  keep  your 
heart  for  Him  in  the  war  of  tribulation,  and  have 
such  good-will  towards  Him  that  for  no  earthly 
good,  nor  for  any  hurt  that  could  be  done  to  your 
body,  would  you  forsake  Him.  I  tell  you,  therefore, 
to  be  quite  at  your  ease,  for  that  your  state  under 
these  circumstances  is  more  pleasing  to  our  Lord 
than  my  own." 

When  the  master  heard  that,  he  knelt  down  before 
the  Bishop,  and  gave  humble  thanks  to  God. 

There  are  two  twilights  unto  every  day  — 

Twilight  of  dawn  and  twilight  of  decay. 

And  likewise  thus  we  find 

Two  twilights  in  the  thinking  of  mankind  — 

The  twilight  of  a  seeking  unto  light, 

The  twilioht  of  a  doubting  unto  night. 

There  are  two  stones  we  may  not  dare  to  cast: 
The  stone  of  stumbling  in  our  brother's  way; 


FOURTH   SATURDAY.  137 

The  stone  of  judgment  at  our  brother's  past  — 
We  who  like  sheep  have  gone  astray. 

Lord,  I  unto  this  Sacrament  draw  near, 
In  humble  confidence  and  heartfelt  fear. 
Fear  of  myself,  and  humble  hope  in  Thee, 
*'  O  God,  my  God,  be  merciful  to  me." 

And  when  I  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  wine, 
Fill  me  with  charity  and  peace  Uke  Thine ! 

"pvEFEND  us,  O  most  gracious  God,  from  dishonoring  Thee 
"^  and  our  religion,  by  distrusting  Thy  goodness,  and  call- 
ing Thy  loving  kindness  in  question  towards  those  who  are  sin- 
cerely bent  to  please  Thee.  Remove  all  troublesome  imagina- 
tions from  us,  and  give  us  a  clear  understanding  of  Thee  and 
of  ourselves.  Or,  when  we  are  in  darkness  and  confusion  of 
thoughts,  grant  us  so  much  light  and  judgment,  as  not  to  con- 
clude ourselves  forsaken  by  Thee,  but  to  reflect  upon  thy  long- 
continued  favors,  and  many  deliverances ;  that  so  we  may 
resolve  still  to  hope  in  Thee,  to  bear  our  present  troubles 
patiently,  and  to  resign  our  will  absolutely  to  Thy  good  pleas- 
ure. And,  O  good  Lord,  enable  us  to  look  beyond  these 
clouds,  to  that  blessed  state  whither  our  Saviour  is  gone,  in 
which  there  is  no  darkness  at  all,  and  in  a  humble  hope  of 
coming  to  the  same  place  where  He  is,  to  content  ourselves 
with  any  condition  whilst  we  are  here  so  far  remote  from  that 
region  of  light  and  glory.  Let  us  always  approach  Thy  altar 
with  fervent  and  heavenly  affections,  and  with  firm  resolutions 
of  better  obedience.  Let  us  commemorate  the  mysteries  of 
our  redemption  with  profound  humility,  with  exalted  thoughts 
of  Thy  wonderful  goodness,  and  with  thankful  acknowledg- 
ments of  Thy  great  love,   demonstrated  to  the  sons  of  men. 


138        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Let  the  mortified  lives  of  Thy  saints  raise  us  above  the  pleas- 
ures of  sense;  and  let  the  pattern  of  their  piety  and  devotion, 
their  humility  and  charity,  their  meekness  and  patient  suffer- 
ings, be  always  so  imprinted  upon  our  minds  that  we  may  tran- 
scribe their  examples  in  our  life  and  conversation;  that  thus 
observing  the  days  of  rest  and  refreshment  here  below,  we 
may  celebrate  an  eternal  rest  with  Thee  hereafter  in  Thy 
heavenly  kingdom,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 


FOURTH  SUNDAY.  139 


MID-LENT  OR  REFECTION   SUNDAY. 


The  angel  of  the  Lord  came  again  the  second  time,  and 
touched  him  saying,  Arise  and  eat,  because  the  journey  is  too 
gi'eat  for  thee. 

This  is  God's  rule  with  regard  to  comfort  in  all 
troubles :  and  it  is  especially  His  rule  in  that  great 
work  of  true  repentance,  the  work  of  this  holy  season. 
There  is  no  more  common  feeling,  among  persons 
trying  in  earnest  to  serve  God  better  than  they  have 
done,  than  a  sort  of  dull,  heavy  dread  of  the  irksome- 
ness  and  gloom  of  a  penitential  life.  To  acknowledge 
our  faults  and  have  our  sins  ever  before  us ;  to  pray 
without  ceasing  ;  to  judge,  condemn,  punish  our- 
selves, that  we  be  not  judged  of  the  Lord  ;  to  humble 
ourselves,  if  need  be,  before  God's  servants  as  well 
as  before  Him  ;  to  keep  our  eyes,  tongues,  appetites, 
in  order ;  to  say  prayers  on  our  knees  often  and 
punctually,  and  always  with  real  efforts  to  attend ; 
to  deny  ourselves  pleasures ;  to  be  afraid  of  speaking 


140        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

about  others  ;  to  be  meek  and  calm  in  interruption, 
disappointment,  ill-usage;  to  grudge  one's  self-en- 
joyment, and  watch  for  ways  of  self-denial ;  all  these 
are  necessary  parts,  signs,  and  tokens  of  real  Chris- 
tian repentance ;  and  of  course,  to  look  forward  to  a 
whole  life  so  spent  must  in  itself  be  a  disheartening 
and  dreary  thought ;  somewhat  in  the  same  kind  of 
way,  as  it  is  disheartening  and  dreary  to  a  sick  per- 
son, when  the  physician  tells  him  he  must  live  by 
rule,  watch  himself  in  his  diet,  and  exercise,  not  take 
liberties  nor  please  himself  as  he  used  to  do.  Of 
course,  men  had  rather  have  their  liberty  ;  yet  if 
they  have  faith  in  the  physician,  they  obey  his  direc- 
tions; they  put  up  with  some  degree  of  hardness, 
rather  than  cast  their  health  away.  And  mark  the 
consequence:  it  very  generally  happens,  that  the 
very  self-denial  by  habit  becomes  tolerable  and  easy 
to  them  ;  besides  its  benefit  to  their  health,  which 
they  do  not  always  feel,  it  brings  with  it  comforts 
and  advantages  which  they  do  feel.  So,  and  much 
more  when  Christians  try  to  obey  Christ  because 
they  have  faith  in  Him,  and  embrace  a  life  of  con- 
trition and  self-denial,  rather  than  cast  their  souls 
away.  It  seems  indeed  dreary  beforehand ;  how 
should  it  be  otherwise  ?  but  that  is  the  trial  of  their 
faith.  If  they  truly  believe  in  Christ,  the  Healer  of 
souls,  if  they  truly  long  for  health  in  their  own  sick 


FOURTH   SUNDAY.  141 

souls,  mucli  more  if  they  have  any  toucli  of  love  to 
Him  who  bore  all  for  them,  they  will  not  shrink 
from  the  remedy  because  it  seems  harsh  and  bitter, 
they  will  embrace  the  cross  boldly  and  make  up  their 
minds  both  to  the  heavy  burden  of  it,  and  the  sharp 
anguish ;  and  having  done  so  they  will  find  to  their 
amazement  a  heavenly  sweetness  mingled  in  the  bit- 
ter cup  ;  ten  thousand  refreshments  which  they  knew 
not  of  will  help  them  along  the  journey  which  they 
undertake  in  faith,  knowing  it  to  be  too  great  for 
them.  Refreshment  will  come,  if  you  do  not  look  for 
it,  if  you  put  away  the  thought  of  it  from  your  mind, 
if  you  keep  saying  to  yourself  it  is  not  meet  for  such 
as  I  am  ;  I  am  quite  unworthy  of  it.  But  if  you  de- 
pend on  it,  and  are  vexed  at  its  not  coming,  that  is  a 
bad  sign  of  the  truth  of  your  repentance  and  looks  as 
if  you  wanted  rather  to  be  comfortable  and  easy, 
than  to  please  God.  So  far  as  it  goes,  it  is  making 
your  own  choice,  not  leaving  your  Lord  to  choose  for 
you.  It  is  taking  the  matter  out  of  His  hands  into 
your  own. 

Oh  why  should  I  have  peace  ? 

Why  ?  but  for  that  unchanged,  undying  love 
Which  would  not,  could  not,  cease, 

Until  it  make  me  heir  of  joy  above. 

Yes,  but  for  pardoning  grace, 
I  feel  I  never  should  in  glory  see 


142        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

The  brightness  of  that  Face 

That  once  was  pale  and  agonized  for  me. 

Let  the  birds  seek  their  nest, 

Foxes  their  holes,  and  man  his  peaceful  bed  ; 
Come,  Saviour,  in  my  breast, 

Deign  to  repose  Thine  oft-rejected  Head  ! 

Come  !  give  me  rest,  and  take 
The  only  rest  on  earth  Thou  lovest,  within 

A  heart,  that  for  Thy  sake 

Lies  bleeding,  broken,  penitent  for  sin. 

f\  MERCIFUL  God,  by  whose  Fatherly  love  we  are  helped 
in  our  infirmities,  take  us  under  the  shadow  of  Thy  wings, 
guard  us  against  our  spritual  enemies,  and  let  not  any  evil  thing 
approach  to  hurt  us.  In  the  darkness  of  our  way  on  the  earth 
show  us  often  the  light  of  Thy  countenance.  If  Thou  makest 
Thy  faithful  people  sorrowful  awhile,  make  them  joyful  again 
with  comfortable  assurance  of  Thy  favor,  and  refresh  them 
with  the  consolations  of  Thy  Spirit.  Send  angels  of  strength 
and  peace  from  Thy  right  hand,  lest  the  length  and  burden  of 
the  way  should  be  too  great  for  us.  O  Lord,  lift  up  Thy  coun- 
tenance upon  us  !  Make  Thy  face  to  shine  upon  us !  Give 
times  of  rest  to  our  bodies,  and  perpetual  peace  to  our  souls, 
through  Him  who  died  for  our  reconciliation,  and  left  us  the 
promise  of  rest  and  peace  everlasting.  Thy  Son,  our  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ.     Amen. 


FOURTH  MONDAY.  14S 


iJfourtl)  ilflontiat- 


And  it  came  to  pass  that  He  went  out  into  a  mountain  to 
pray,  and  continued  all  night  in  prayer  to  God. 

The  Lord  is  with  you  while  ye  be  with  Him. 

They  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy. 

Is  any  among  you  afflicted?  let  him  pray.  God  answereth 
him  in  the  joy  of  his  heart. 

Pray  without  ceasing. 

In  nothing,  perhaps,  is  the  Christian's  progress  in 
holiness  more  signally  manifest  than  in  his  prayers. 
They  become  more  and  more  the  natural  expression 
of  the  new  life.  At  first,  prayer  is  either  a  part  of 
the  exercise  of  religious  obedience  or  else  the  indis- 
pensable means  of  obtaining  some  desired  benefit. 
Accordingly,  persons  immature  in  faith  and  love 
have  a  great  deal  of  difficulty  with  their  prayers. 
No  complaint  is  oftener  poured  into  the  ears  of  spir- 
itual pastors  and  teachers  than  that  of  unsatisfactory 
devotions.  It  takes  different  forms.  Sometimes  the 
heart  is  cold  ;  the  hour  of  daily  retirement  is  unwel- 
come ;  the  closet  has  no  attractions ;  the  words  are 


144        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

nothing  but  words ;  the  whole  transaction  is  a  dead 
form,  or  even  a  mockery.  At  other  times  the  disap- 
pointment is  that  the  special  petitions  are  apparently 
not  answered.  Again  and  again  the  cry  goes  up, 
and  no  evident  sign  is  given  of  a  hearing  God.  The 
request  is  not  granted  ;  the  bad  habit  is  not  broken  ; 
temptation  does  not  die  ;  doubt  is  not  removed  ;  the 
favor  sought  is  not  bestowed ;  the  comfort  is  not  felt, 
and  it  is  questioned  whether  the  Comforter  Himself 
draws  near ;  it  is  as  if  the  supplication  were  driven 
back  from  a  shut  up  heaven  and  fell  like  a  leaden 
weight  upon  the  breast.  The  baffled  suppliant  keeps 
on  entreating,  rather  because  the  letter  of  the  com- 
mand is  plain,  or  because  he  knows  it  must  some- 
how be  well  for  him  to  be  on  his  knees  before  his 
Maker,  than  because  he  is  refreshed. 

But  with  the  increase  of  the  inner  life  these 
sources  of  misery  disappear  ;  or,  if  they  are  after- 
ward re-opened,  the  distress  is  short-lived,  being  gen- 
erally due  to  some  temporary  disorder  of  the  inward 
man.  Christ  being  more  completely  formed  within, 
the  believer's  seasons  of  communion  with  the  Father 
spread  themselves  more  widely  through  his  days  and 
nights.  He  passes  very  frequently,  almost  uncon- 
sciously, and  by  imperceptible  gradations  of  feeling, 
from  his  ordinary  existence  among  the  things  of  this 
world  into  direct  converse  with  that  Friend  who  is 


FOURTH  MONDAY.  145 

ever  nearest,  while  also  most  high  and  most  mighty. 
The  current  of  adoring  thought  flows  on  in  joyous, 
satisfying  concord  with  the  Eternal  Will.  We  do 
not  stop,  perhaps,  to  shape  every  aspiration  into 
articulate  speech,  but  we  yield  to  the  Divine  breath, 
and  move  whithersoever  the  Spirit  that  maketh  in- 
tercession moves.  In  such  measure  as  may  be,  the 
disciple  is  in  the  Mount  with  the  Master.  Those 
wonderful  words  of  the  Communion  Ofiice  are  real- 
ized, "  That  we  may  evermore  dwell  in  Him,  and 
He  in  us."  As  the  Lord  Himself  sometimes,  to  the 
very  last,  offered  up  particular  entreaties,  so  it  will 
daily  be  with  His  most  spiritually -minded  followers. 
But  the  communion  will  not  end  with  these.  A 
larger  and  larger  share  of  devotion  will  consist  in 
thanksgiving  and  praise,  —  a  sure  mark  of  spiritual 
growth.  Some  new  blessing,  —  a  victory  of  faith, 
a  fresh  beam  of  light  falling  from  heaven  on  the 
path, —  will  as  often  stir  the  soul  to  its  heavenly 
conversation  as  a  trial,  loss,  or  throb  of  pain.  There 
will  be  no  anxious  concern  about  answers,  for  the 
felt  blessedness  of  the  act  is  itself  an  answer.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  God  will  hear,  because  it  is  known 
that  He  listened  before  his  child  called.  May  not 
something  like  this  be  the  meaning  of  the  prayer 
that  is  "  without  ceasing  ?  "  It  is  as  Mr.  Coleridge 
strikingly  said,  the  loftiest  action   of  the   spirit   of 

10 


146        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

man.     It  is  hiding  in  the  pavilion  of  the  Most  High, 
and  resting  under  the  shadow  of  His  wings. 

Lord,  it  is  hard  to  stand 
Waiting  and  watcliing  in  this  silent  toil, 
While  other  fishers  draw  their  nets  to  land, 
And  shout  to  see  their  spoil. 

My  strength  fails  unawares. 

My  hands  are  weak,  my  sight  grows  dim  with  tears ; 
My  soul  is  burdened  with  unanswered  prayers, 
And  sick  of  doubts  and  fears. 

But  lo!  what  form  is  this, 
Standing  beside  me  on  the  desolate  shore  ? 
I  bow  my  knees;  His  garment's  hem  I  kiss; 
Master,  I  doubt  no  more ! 

♦'  Draw  in  thy  net,  draw  in," 

He  cries,  "  behold  the  straining  meshes  break!  " 
Ah,  Lord,  the  store  I  toiled  so  long  to  win 
Is  granted  for  Thy  sake ! 

The  rosy  day  blooms  out 
Like  a  full-blossomed  flower;  the  joyous  sea 
Lifts  up  its  voice;  the  winds  of  morning  shout 
All  glory.  Lord,  to  Thee! 

A  LMIGHTY  and  everlasting  God,  from  whom  cometh 
■^^^  every  perfect  gift,  graciously  accept  this  humble  tribute 
of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  and  mercifully  grant,  that  the 
frequent  meditation  of  Thine  infinite  goodness  may  constrain 
our  hearts  to  love  Thee  gladly  above  all  things,  and  the  serious 


FOURTH  MONDAY.  147 

consideration  of  Thy  incomprehensible  Majesty  bring  our  un- 
derstandings in  joyful  subjection  to  the  obedience  of  faith; 
that  we  may  here,  in  reverence  to  Thy  word,  believe  what  we 
do  not  see,  and  hereafter  in  the  blissful  vision  of  Thy  glory  see 
more  than  we  now  believe,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  and 
Saviour,  who  with  Thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  ever  liveth  and 
reigneth  one  God,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


148       NEW  HELPS  TQ  A  HOLY  LENT. 


fomtl)  CueiSDa^. 


If  any  man  lack  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God,  that  giveth  to 
all  men  liberally,  and  upbraideth  not ;  and  it  shall  be  given  him. 
But  let  him  ask  in  faith,  nothing  wavering. 

If  ye  then  being  evil  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your 
children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven 
give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him. 

What  things  soever  ye  desire  when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye 
receive  them  and  ye  shall  have  them. 

The  promise  of  understanding  is  to  prayer ;  tliey 
who  ask  of  God  shall  receive  spiritual  wisdom.  No 
wonder  if  those  who  neglect  to  ask,  however  sharp 
and  knowing  they  may  be  in  other  things,  remain  as 
children,  without  sense  or  discretion  in  their  judg- 
ment of  what  relates  to  God's  kingdom.  Many  great 
scholars  have  fallen  into  grievous  errors,  in  spite  of 
their  shrewdness  and  industry,  for  this  simple  reason, 
that  they  were  not  devout,  they  did  not  in  earnest 
ask  God's  blessing  on  their  labors.  But  do  not  im- 
agine that  great  scholars  only  are  likely  to  go  wrong 
in  that  way.     Every  man  has  his  own  soul  to  save, 


FOURTH  TUESDAY.  149 

and  has  need  to  be  a  scholar  in  the  Scriptures,  so  far 
as  knowing  the  way  to  save  it.  But  if  he  set  about 
this  study,  either  reading  or  hearing  the  gospel,  in  a 
proud,  conceited,  self-sufficient  way,  then,  the  quicker 
he  is  in  natural  understanding,  and  the  more  diligent 
he  is  to  learn,  and  the  more  leisure  he  enjoys,  the 
farther  he  is  likely  to  go  wrong  in  his  notions  of  the 
meaning  of  Scripture.  For,  depending  on  himself, 
he  will  not  ask  of  God  ;  and  not  asking,  he  will  not 
obtain.  When  I  say  he  will  not  ask,  I  do  not  sup- 
pose that  any  person  imagining  himself  to  be  a 
Christian  entirely  neglects  prayer  to  God.  But  I 
mean  that  he  will  not  ask  earnestly  ;  he  will  not  pray 
from  his  very  heart.  That  is,  in  God's  sight,  he  will 
not  pray;  for  God  looks  on  the  very  heart,  and 
judges  by  what  He  finds  there. 

It  would  be  well  to  bear  this  in  mind  when  we  are 
looking  at  those  portions  of  the  Gospel  which  prom- 
ise everything  to  faith  and  prayer.  For  example, 
where  our  Saviour  tells  His  disciples,  "  What  things 
soever  ye  desire,  when  ye  pray,  believe  that  ye  re- 
ceive them,  and  ye  shall  have  them."  This  it  is 
likely  may  have  startled  many.  For  who,  it  may  be 
said,  ever  received  all  the  blessings  he  prayed  for  ? 
But  this  is  answered  by  asking  again.  Who  ever 
when  he  prayed,  beheved  that  he  received  what  he 
asked  for  in  the  full  meaning  of  our  Saviour's  words  ? 


150        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

For  by  such  belief  it  should  seem  that  He  meant 
such  a  faith  as  St.  James  describes  :  full  trust  in 
Him,  and  entire  submission  to  His  holy  will.  Any 
person  so  minded,  any  person  thoroughly  willing  to 
let  God  choose  for  Him,  would  in  reality  always 
believe  that  he  receives  of  God  what  he  prays  for. 
For  he  would  be  more  sure  of  God's  love  and  dis- 
position to  do  the  very  best  for  him,  than  of  his  own 
love  for  himself.  Suppose,  then,  he  prays  for  any 
worldly  comfort,  for  his  own  health,  or  for  the  health 
or  life  of  a  dear  friend.  It  will  all  the  while  be 
strong  upon  his  mind,  that  God  only  is  able  to  judge 
whether  this  if  granted  would  prove  such  a  blessing 
and  comfort  as  one  naturally  imagines.  Therefore, 
how  earnestly  soever  a  thoroughly  Christian  devout 
soul  may  feel  and  utter  any  particular  wish,  it  will 
always  be  tempered  with  this  conviction  deeply 
rooted  in  his  heart,  that,  however  God  may  appear 
to  deny  him.  He  will  in  fact  grant  the  blessing  he 
asks  for  ;  and  if  not  in  the  very  form  and  manner  in 
which  He  asks  for  it,  yet  still  the  same  blessing  will 
come  somehow,  he  is  quite  sure,  in  a  way  which  God 
knows  to  be  better. 

Our  Saviour's  words,  then,  may  perhaps  not  im- 
properly be  thought  to  mean  as  if  He  said.  All  things 
whatsoever  ye  desire  when  ye  pray,  ye  desire  suppos- 
ing them  to  be  really  best  for  you.     Now  then,  make 


FOURTH   TUESDAY.  151 

up  your  minds  to  this,  tliat  God  loves  you  so  well  as 
never  to  deny  you  what  is  really  best  for  you,  except 
by  your  own  fault.  Make  up  your  minds  to  this  in 
earnest  and  you  will  be  as  sure,  when  you  kneel 
down,  to  have  the  meaning  of  your  prayers  granted, 
as  a  good  child  is  when  asking  a  favor  of  a  wise  and 
kind  parent.  Nay,  you  will  be  as  much  more  certain 
of  it,  as  God  is  wiser  and  more  kind  than  the  wisest 
or  kindest  parent. 

Such  seems  to  be  the  meaning  of  our  Saviour's 
promise,  in  regard  of  all  our  prayers  generally ;  and 
St.  James's  words  are  the  same  promise  in  regard 
particularly  of  spiritual  wisdom.  Of  that  as  of  all 
other  blessings,  it  is  quite  certain,  by  God's  word, 
that  whoever  comes  to  ask  for  it  with  a  heart  thor- 
oughly resigned  and  contented,  that  is,  in  other 
words,  with  a  faithful  heart,  that  man  shall  receive 
what  he  asks. 

The  prayer,  how  weak 

0  Lord,  that  lifts  my  heart  to  Thee. 
But  this  I  seek  — 

This  one  thing  give  to  me  — 

Help  my  infirmity  ; 

Within  me  speak, 
And  by  the  Spirit  taught 

1  shall  know  what  to  pray  for  as  I  ought 


152        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

From  pain  and  care, 
O  Lord !  I  seek  not  to  be  free. 

But  this  my  prayer  — 
Open  my  eyes  to  see 

That  Thou  art  leading  me, 

Then  I  can  bear 
To  walk  in  darkness  still, 
Walking  with  Thee,  submissive  to  Thy  will. 

/^  LORD,  I  know  not  what  I  should  ask  of  Thee.  Thou 
only  knowest  what  I  want  ;  and  Thou  lovest  me,  if  I  am 
Thy  friend,  better  than  I  can  love  myself.  O  Lord,  give  to 
me,  Thy  child,  what  is  best,  whatsoever  it  may  be.  I  dare 
not  ask  either  crosses  or  comforts.  I  only  present  myself  be- 
fore Thee.  I  open  my  heart  to  Thee.  Behold  my  wants, 
which  I  myself  am  ignorant  of  ;  but  do  Thou  behold,  and  do 
according  to  Thy  mercy.  Smite,  or  heal  !  Depress  me,  or 
raise  me  up.  I  adore  all  Thy  purposes  without  knowing  them. 
I  am  silent;  I  offer  myself  in  sacrifice.  I  abandon  myself  to 
Thee.  I  have  no  more  any  desire  but  to  accomplish  Thy  will. 
Lord,  teach  me  how  to  pray  !  Dwell  Thou  Thyself  in  me  by 
Thy  Holy  Spu-it.     Amen. 


FIFTH  WEDNESDAY.  163 


fitti)  mtmmm 


The  watchmen  that  go  about  the  city  found  me  :  to  whom  I 
said,  Saw  ye  Him  whom  my  soul  loveth  ?  It  was  but  a  little 
that  I  passed  from  them,  but  I  found  Him  whom  my  soul  lov- 
eth.    I  held  Him,  and  would  not  let  Him  go. 

God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish. 

Jesus  said,  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead  yet 
shall  he  live. 

Believe  in  Me. 

Cheist  does  not  merely  say  to  us,  Believe  this, 
that,  and  the  other  thing  about  Me  ;  put  your  cre- 
dence in  this  and  the  other  doctrine  ;  accept  this  and 
the  other  promise  ;  hope  for  this  and  the  other  future 
thing.  All  these  come  with  but  are  not  the  central 
act.  He  says,  "Believe:  believe  in  Me!  Jam  the 
way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life ;  He  that  cometh 
to  Me  shall  never  hunger,  and  he  that  believeth  in 
3Ie  shall  never  thirst."  Do  we  rightly  appreciate 
that  ?  The  whole  feeling  and  attitude  of  a  man's 
mind  is  different,  according  as  he  is  trusting  a  per- 
son, or  according  as  he  is  believing  something  about 


154        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

a  person.  And  this,  therefore,  is  the  first  broad 
truth  that  lies  here.  Faith  has  reference  not  merely 
to  a  doctrine,  not  to  a  system  ;  but  deeper  than  all 
these,  to  a  living  Lord  —  "  faith  that  is  in  Me.^ 

It  is  a  relation  which  is  expressed  not  more  clearly 
but  perhaps  a  little  more  forcibly  to  us  by  substitut- 
ing another  word,  and  saying.  Faith  is  trust. 

It  is  the  very  same  kind  of  feeling,  though  differ- 
ent in  degree,  and  glorified  by  the  majesty  and  glory 
of  its  object,  as  that  which  we  all  know  how  to  put 
forth  in  our  relations  with  one  another.  We  trust 
each  other.  That  is  faith.  We  have  confidence  in 
the  love  that  has  been  around  us,  breathing  benedic- 
tions and  bringing  blessings  ever  since  we  were  little 
children.  When  the  child  looks  up  into  the  mother's 
face,  the  symbol  to  it  of  all  protection,  —  or  into  the 
father's  eye,  the  symbol  to  it  of  all  authority,  —  that 
emotion  is  the  same  as  the  one  which,  glorified  and 
made  divine,  rises  strong  and  immortal  in  its  power, 
when  fixed  and  fastened  on  Christ,  and  saves  the 
soul.  The  Gospel  rests  upon  a  mystery,  but  the 
practical  part  of  it  is  no  mystery. 

And  then,  if  this  personal  trust  in  Christ  as  our 
living  Redeemer,  —  if  this  be  faith,  then  there  come 
also,  closely  connected  with  it,  certain  other  emotions 
or  feelings  in  the  heart.  For  instance,  if  I  am  trust- 
ing to  Christ,  there  is  inseparably  linked  with  it  self- 


FIFTH  WEDNESDAY.  155 

distrust.  There  are  two  sides  to  the  thought ;  where 
there  is  reliance  upon  another,  there  must  needs  be 
non-reliance  upon  self.  There  is  the  tree  :  the  trunk 
goes  upward  from  the  little  seed,  rises  into  the  light, 
gets  the  sunshine  upon  it,  and  has  leaves  and  fruit. 
That  is  the  upward  tendency  of  faith,  —  trust  in 
Christ.  There  is  the  root,  down  deep,  buried,  dark, 
unseen.  Both  are  springing,  but  springing  in  oppo- 
site directions,  from  the  one  seed.  And  agam,  faith, 
as  thus  conceived  of,  will  obviously  have  for  its  cer- 
tain and  immediate  consequence,  love.  Nay,  the  two 
emotions  will  be  inseparable,  and  practically  co-ex- 
istent. In  thought  we  can  separate  them.  Logi- 
cally, faith  comes  first,  and  love  next,  but  in  life 
they  will  spring  up  together.  The  question  of  their 
order  of  existence  is  an  often-trod  battle-ground  of 
theology,  all  strewed  with  the  relics  of  former  fights. 
But  in  the  real  history  of  the  growth  of  religious 
emotions  in  the  soul  the  interval  which  separates 
them  is  impalpable,  and  in  every  act  of  trust  love  is 
present,  and  fundamental  to  every  emotion  of  love  to 
Christ  is  trust  in  Christ. 

"We  are  justified,"  says  the  Bible,  "by  faith." 
If  a  man  believes,  he  is  saved.  Why  so  ?  Not  as 
some  people  sometimes  seem  to  fancy,  —  not  as  if  in 
faith  itself  there  was  any  merit.  What  difference  is 
there  between  what  a  man  does  with  his  hands  and 


156  NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

what  a  man  feels  in  his  heart?  If  the  one  merit 
salvation,  or  if  the  other  merit  salvation,  equally  we 
are  shut  up  to  this,  —  Men  get  heaven  by  what  they 
do ;  and  it  does  not  matter  a  bit  what  they  do  it 
with,  whether  it  be  body  or  soul.  When  we  say  we 
are  saved  by  faith,  we  mean,  accurately,  through 
faith.  It  is  God  that  saves.  It  is  Christ's  life, 
Christ's  blood,  Christ's  sacrifice,  Christ's  intercession, 
that  saves.  Faith  is  simply  the  channel  through 
which  there  flows  over  into  my  emptiness  the  Divine 
fullness  ;  or,  to  use  the  good  old  illustration,  it  is  the 
hand  which  is  held  up  to  receive  the  benefit  which 
Christ  lays  in  it.  A  living  trust  in  Jesus  has  power 
unto  salvation,  only  because  it  is  the  means  by  which 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  may  come  into  my 
heart.  It  is  not  faith  that  saves  us ;  it  is  Christ  that 
saves  us,  and  saves  us  through  faith. 

And  now,  take  this  one  conviction  into  your 
hearts.  That  what  makes  a  man  a  Christian  ;  what 
saves  my  soul  and  yours ;  what  brings  the  love  of 
Christ  into  my  life,  and  makes  the  sacrifice  of  Christ 
a  power  to  pardon  and  purify,  —  that  that  is  not 
merely  believing  this  Book,  not  merely  understand- 
ing the  doctrines  that  are  there,  but  a  far  more  pro- 
found thing  than  that.  It  is  the  casting  of  myself 
upon  Himself,  the  bending  of  my  willing  heart  to 
His  loving  Spirit ;  the  close  contact,  heart  to  heart, 


FIFTH   WEDNESDAY.  157 

soul  to  soul,  will  to  will,  of  my  emptiness  with  His 
fullness,  of  my  sinfulness  with  His  righteousness,  of 
my  death  with  His  hfe  :  that  I  may  live  by  Him,  be 
sanctified  by  Him,  be  saved  by  Him  "  with  an  ever- 
lasting salvation." 

My  faith  to  try,  in  which  I  much  did  glory, 
I  said  unto  a  mountain  dark  and  hoary, 
"  Be  thou  removed  and  cast  into  the  sea," 

And  watched  to  see  it  spread  its  wings  and  flee, 
"With  movement  swifter  than  the  flight  of  bird; 

But  watched  in  vain : 

The  mountain  did  remain. 
"  It  needed  but  a  grain 
Of  faith.     And  surely  I  possess,  indeed. 
More  than  the  simple  grain  of  mustard-seed." 

IVlien  lo !  a  voice  I  heard  — 
"  Thy  faith  is  in  thy  faith,  not  in  His  name 
Through  whom  alone  such  power  man  dare  claim." 
I  named  the  ISTame  of  Christ,  and  now 
The  mountain,  shaken  to  its  depths,  bowed  low, 
Then  rose  majestic  with  its  crown  of  snow, 
And  floated  seaward  through  the  western  air: 

Oh!  with  what  awe 
Its  ocean  death  amid  the  waves  I  saw; 

Then  kneeling  did  adore; 

But  while  I  did  rejoice, 

The  angel  spake  once  more 

With  warning  voice, 
*'  Great  is  the  faith  that  mountains  can  remove, 
But  greater  still  is  that  which  works  by  love." 


158        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

/~\  SON  of  God,  whom  to  know  aright  is  life  eternal,  grant 
us  the  hearts  of  little  children,  and  such  trust  in  Thy  life 
of  sacrifice  and  Thy  death  of  reconciliation,  that  our  faith  in 
Thy  sight  may  never  be  reproved.  We  believe;  help  Thou  our 
unbelief.  Overcome  for  us  the  power  of  fear  and  sin  and 
death,  that,  being  conquerors  in  Thee  and  more  than  conquer- 
ors, we  may  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Thy  Peace,  and  be  for- 
ever with  Thee  whom  our  souls  love,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen. 


FIFTH  THURSDAY.  159 


^iU\)  €]^ut;0tiat 


O  Lord  God,  I  pray  Thee,  send  me  good  speed  this  day. 

Take  no  thought  for  the  morrow,  for  the  morrow  shall  take 
thought  for  the  things  of  itself. 

He  that  gathered  much  had  nothing  over,  and  he  that  gath- 
ered little  had  no  lack. 

Jesus,  therefore,  being  wearied  with  His  journey,  sat  thus  on 
the  well. 

He  said  unto  them,  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of. 
My  meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me,  and  to  finish 
His  work. 

How  can  we  be  made  like  unto  Jesus  ?  How  can 
our  poor,  irksome  sufferings,  of  cold  or  hunger,  or 
poor  fare,  or  aching  of  limbs,  or  stiffness  of  our  joints, 
or  sleeplessness,  or  weariness,  how  can  they  be  hal- 
lowed to  us,  how  can  they  be  borne  so  as  to  make 
us  Hke  our  Lord?  First,  many  of  these  sufferings 
our  good  Lord  took  in  order  to  hallow  them  to  us,  to 
give  them  a  worth  and  a  joy,  painful  as  they  are,  be- 
cause they  were  His.  Was  He  not  weary  by  the 
well,  and  a  hungered  after  His  temptation,  and  were 


160        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

not  His  knees  stiffened  on  the  Cross,  and  His  limbs 
out  of  joint?  Was  He  not  chilled  with  the  dew  of 
heaven  as  He  passed  whole  nights  in  the  mountain 
or  in  the  garden  in  prayer  for  us  ?  and  was  not  He 
who  feeds  all  creation  fed  by  the  barley-loaves,  the 
gift  of  His  creatures  to  His  poverty  ? 

But  then,  how  did  He  hallow  them  ?  By  endur- 
ing them  as  the  will  of  God.  "  My  meat  is  to  do 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Me."  He  "  became  obedi- 
ent unto  death,  and  that  the  death  of  the  Cross." 

And  so  for  us.  It  is  matter  of  faith  that  every- 
thing, what  seems  to  us  the  greatest  and  the  least,  is 
ordained  or  overruled  by  God.  What  is  good  He 
gives  ;  what  is  evil  He  overrules  to  the  good  of  His 
own.  To  God  nothing  can  be  great ;  as  to  us  noth- 
ing is  little,  which  in  any  way  affects  our  souls.  To 
God,  the  fall  of  empires,  the  crash  of  the  world,  the 
dissolving  of  the  whole  universe  were  as  nothing. 
By  His  Word  they  were  created ;  at  His  breath  they 
would  pass  away.  More  precious  to  Him  than  the 
whole  world  is  the  value  of  one  single  soul.  For  the 
world  shall  perish,  the  soul  endureth.  The  world 
and  all  its  wondrous  beauty  is  but  the  work  of  His 
hands  ;  the  soul  made  and  re-made  in  the  Image  of 
God  was  redeemed  by  the  Blood  of  Christ.  It  were 
more  reasonable  to  think  that  God  had  not  made 
man  at  all,  than  to  think  that  He  had  set  him  in  the 


FIFTH  THURSDAY.  161 

midst  of  this  His  Creation,  and  left  him  the  mere 
sport  of  chance,  or  of  rude,  unbending  laws,  and  did 
not  order  every,  the  least,  thing  concerning  him  for 
the  well-being  of  his  soul.  We  often  think  of  God 
as  too  like  ourselves.  To  us,  it  is  a  trouble  and  a 
weariness,  to  look  into  little  things,  to  attend  par- 
ticularly to  this  or  that.  And  so  men  picture  to 
themselves  Almighty  God  as  having  made  certain 
great  laws  of  our  world  ;  but  they  cannot  bring  home 
to  themselves,  that  every,  the  very  least,  accident  of 
every  day  is  known,  willed,  overruled,  by  Almighty 
God.  If  they  ventured  to  put  their  thoughts  into 
words,  they  would  think  it  a  trouble  to  Almighty 
God  to  attend  to  all  the  little  details  of  our  daily 
life.  As  though  God  were  like  ourselves,  beholding 
with  effort  things  one  by  one,  giving  His  mind  (so 
to  say),  now  to  one  thing,  now  to  another,  or,  as 
though  having  set  this  world  in  motion  like  a  great 
machine.  He  put  it  in  its  own  head  to  govern  itself, 
and  did  not  weary  Himself  about  it !  Rather,  Al- 
mighty God,  not  being  divided  and  not  having  parts 
and  a  bounded  mind,  as  we,  sees  all  at  once,  past, 
present,  and  to  come ;  all  things  which  to  us  have 
been,  or  are,  or  shall  be,  or  all  things  which  could 
be  ;  all  things  which  He  has  made,  or  all  of  which,  if 
He  willed.  He  could  make  ;  all  which  He  shall  make, 
and  the  whole  history  of  every  creature  of  His, 
11 


162        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

spread  out  before  Him,  as  in  the  mirror  of  His  In- 
finite Mind,  present  there.  Unchanging,  He  changeth 
all  things;  in  perfect  rest  He  endureth  all  things. 
By  His  will  He  made  them  ;  by  His  will  He  upholds 
all  which  is  upheld,  and  leaves  to  decay  whatever 
decays.  Everything,  at  every  moment  of  time,  is 
seen  in  the  perfect  stillness  of  His  Infinite  Mind,  and 
is  ruled  and  overruled  by  His  Infinite  Will.  He  so 
"  upholdeth  all  things  by  the  Word  of  His  Power," 
that  our  Lord  saith,  "  not  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the 
ground  without  My  Father."  "  The  hairs  of  your 
head  are  all  numbered." 

Our  Lord  teaches  us,  as  to  those  very  little  things, 
in  order  that  we  may  know  and  feel  that  nothing  is 
too  little  to  be  ordered  by  our  Father,  nothing  too 
little  in  which  to  see  His  Hand,  nothing,  which 
touches  our  souls,  too  little  to  accept  from  Him, 
nothing  too  little  to  be  done  to  Him.  Since  the 
hairs  of  our  heads  are  all  numbered,  so  is  every  throb 
or  shoot  of  pain,  every  beating  of  the  heart.  Every 
tear  which  starts  is  seen,  and  if  wept  to  Him  is  gath- 
ered up  by  Him.  Every  heart's  sigh  He  hears  at 
once  from  every  bosom  in  His  whole  creation.  He, 
who  is  in  the  highest  Heaven  and  fiUeth  all  things, 
but  is  contained  in  none,  is  present  to  each  single 
heart,  and,  if  the  heart  form  its  wish  to  Him  He 
hearkens. 


0 


FIFTH  THUESDAY.  163 

"  Vouchsafe,  0  Lord,  to  keep  us  this  day  without  «n." 

Yes,  for  tliis  one,  one  day, 

Low  at  Thy  feet  I  pray. 
Vouchsafe,  O  Lord,  to  keep  me  without  sin  ! 

Perchance  another  morrow 

New  prayers  my  soul  may  borrow; 
Upon  another  shore  her  Ufe  begin  ! 

But  for  these  few  short  hours, 

In  sunshine  or  in  showers, 
I  care  not,  so  Thine  own  dear  hand  doth  lead,  — 

Choose  Thou  for  me  my  way. 

Oh,  do  not  let  me  stray  ! 
Within  Thy  heavenly  meadows  may  I  feed. 

So  when  my  day  hath  fled. 

And  I  shall  rest  my  head 
Like  some  blest,  happy  child  kissed  into  sleep  ; 

Thou  wilt  look  down  on  me, 

And  fondly  smile  to  see 
Sin  hath  not  made  the  tired  eyes  to  weep. 

And  if,  with  this  day's  close, 

My  soul  shall  find  repose. 
The  sealed  eyes  never  open  more  on  earth  again, 

Oh,  purer,  happier  morrow  ! 

No  trace  of  the  old  sorrow. 
No  need  to  pray,  "  Lord,  keep  me  without  sin  !  " 

THOU,   who  on   the   earth    didst  hunger  and   thirst    in 
the  body  for  our  sake,  who  didst  make  it  Thy  meat  to 


164        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

and  followeth  Thee  with  the  same  heavenly  food,  grant  unto  us, 
we  beseech  Thee,  such  a  perfect  trust  in  Thy  Hand  that  we 
may  follow  Thee  without  delay,  and  without  wandering  aside, 
or  falKng  away.  Keep  us  this  day  without  sin,  and  day  by  day 
replenish  us  with  Thy  grace,  and  all  the  days  of  our  life  pre- 
serve us  in  Thy  faith  and  fear,  for  Thy  mercy's  sake,  our 
Mediator  and  Saviour.     Amen. 


FIFTH  FRIDAY.  165 


mt^  ^nm- 


Like  as  the  hart  desire th  the  water-brooks,  so  longeth  my 
soul  after  Thee,  O  God. 

My  soul  is  athirst  for  God,  yea,  even  for  the  living  God. 

Why  art  thou  so  full  of  heaviness,  O  my  soul?  and  why  art 
thou  so  disquieted  within  me  ?  Put  thy  trust  in  God ;  for  I  will 
yet  give  Him  thanks  for  the  help  of  His  countenance.  One 
deep  calleth  another,  because  of  the  noise  of  the  water-pipes :  all 
Thy  waves  and  storms  are  gone  over  me. 

A  SHALLOW  yiew  of  life  rejects  the  Cross,  just  as 
a  shallow  theology  rejects  it,  but  it  is  in  allianoe  with 
all  our  deepest  experiences,  whether  in  the  spiritual 
or  natural  order.  It  is  not  only  in  Genesis  that  the 
fall  of  man  is  written,  not  only  by  the  pen  of  the 
blessed  Evangelists  that  his  recovery  is  proclaimed. 
Let  us  look  where  we  will,  either  in  the  past  or  pres- 
ent, we  shall  see  Humanity  ensnared,  enslaved,  de- 
graded ;  also,  we  shall  see  in  human  nature,  simply  as 
it  is,  a  New  Testament,  the  elements  of  a  better  resur- 
rection. How  wonderful,  even  in  the  least  excellent 
of  human  beings,  are  the  latent  possibilities  of  good  ! 


166        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

What  gleams  do  we  find  among  low  and  degraded 
natures  of  an  excellence  only  able  to  reveal  and 
maintain  itself  in  a  momentary  flash,  like  that  which 
Homer  says  is  apt  to  prelude  death,  yet  proving 
through  that  very  flash  its  own  deep  hidden  life.  It 
is  evident  that  man's  wound  is  curable  ;  he  is  a  being 
at  once  needing  to  be  restored,  and  capable  of  being 
so.  In  the  depths  of  our  mortal  nature  lies  a  dark 
unsunned  well,  too  deep  sunk  for  the  events  of  com- 
mon life  to  stir  and  touch  it,  the  waters  of  which 
when  troubled  reflect  the  Cross,  and  prepare  man's 
heart  for  the  cardinal  doctrine  of  Christianity,  ^.  e. 
deliverance  through  a  work  not  his  own.  Life's 
deepest  moments  rouse  man  from  the  lethargy  which 
its  ordinary  course  weaves  round  him,  and  bid  him 
listen  for  the  footstep  of  Reuben  coming  to  release 
him,  where  he  lies  tied  and  bound,  and  incapable  of 
effort,  at  the  bottom  of  the  pit,  "  wherein  is  no 
water." 

Our  best  and  our  worst  grow  very  close  together  ; 
and  the  heart  of  man,  out  of  its  poverty,  and  out  of 
its  wealth  alike,  when  he  has  once  learnt  either  the 
depth  or  extent  of  either,  will  testify  to  him  of  his 
need  of  a  Saviour.  It  will  show  him  a  dark,  secret 
inherency  of  evil,  a  stern  outward  bondage  of  cir- 
cumstance, a  "  siege  perilous "  forever  going  on 
against  a  principle  of  goodness,  also   latent  in  our 


FIFTH  FRIDAY.  167 

nature,  —  yet,  without  a  superadded  energy,  too  weak 
for  ultimate  victory.  It  is  not  in  the  heart  itself, 
that  the  heart,  be  it  the  truest  and  kindest  that  ever 
was  fashioned  by  God  —  can  trust  in  the  fierce  as- 
saults of  temptation.  Neither  will  it  turn  to  the 
world ;  Egypt,  that  broken  reed,  hollow,  frail,  and 
deceiving,  that  has  never  failed  to  pierce  to  the  very 
heart  him  who  has  leaned  upon  it  in  the  hour  of 
need.  Man,  in  the  extremity  of  conflict,  is  thrown 
back  upon  his  God  ;  and  I  would  say  again,  that  nat- 
ure itself,  when  taken  at  its  highest  note,  whether 
of  ecstacy  or  anguish,  will  respond  to  the  very 
chords  that,  at  a  lower  pitch  of  feeling,  seem  most 
utterly  jarring  and  dissonant  with  its  loud,  con- 
tinual chorus,  —  sacrifice,  intervention,  substitution. 
These  ideas  are  not  foreign  to  the  heart  that  warmly 
loves  or  deeply  suffers.  "  He  that  loves,"  as  says 
St.  Chrysostom,  "  if  it  be  not  God,  but  man,"  will 
at  any  rate  understand  us  when  we  use  them  ;  for  if 
he  who  loves  not  knows  not  God,  there  is  yet  an- 
other thing  which  I  will  venture  to  affirm  him  igno- 
rant of,  and  that  is  the  excellence  of  which  his  own 
spirit  is  capable.  Any  one  who  has  truly  loved  an- 
other human  being  knows  that  there  is  no  conceiva- 
ble amount  of  misery  and  degradation  that  he  would 
not,  if  it  were  possible,  bear  for  that  person,  or  share 
with  him,  even  with  joy ;   and  if  we  once  suppose 


168        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

the  heart's  scope  to  be  widened,  and  its  aim  fixed  on 
a  higher  end,  why  should  not  Love  be  content  to 
suffer  for  any  person,  why  not  for  every  one  ? 

When  across  the  heart  deep  waves  of  sorrow 

Break,  as  on  a  dry  and  barren  shore; 
When  Hope  glistens  with  no  bright  to-morrow, 

And  the  storm  seems  sweeping  evermore; 

Who  shall  hush  the  weary  spirit's  chiding. 

Who  the  aching  void  within  shall  fill  ? 
Who  shall  whisper  of  a  Peace  abiding, 

And  each  surging  billow  calmly  still? 

Only  He  whose  wounded  Heart  was  broken 
With  the  bitter  Cross  and  thorny  Crown, 

Whose  dear  love  glad  words  of  joy  had  spoken, 
Who  His  life  for  us  laid  meekly  down. 

/^  THOU  who  in  Thine  humiliation  didst  command  the 
winds  and  waves,  and  they  obeyed  Thee,  do  Thou  so 
dwell  within  us  that  we  may  be  safe  from  all  dangers  and 
steadfast  in  all  temptations.  O  Lord,  Thou  alone  canst  cast 
out  the  evil  passions  and  desires  of  the  soul.  Come  among  us, 
we  pray  Thee,  and  with  Thy  great  might  succor  us:  subdue  our 
spiritual  enemies,  and  set  us  free  from  the  tyranny  of  our  be- 
setting sins.  Blessed  Jesus,  we  are  weary  and  heavy  laden, 
and  we  come  to  Thee  to  give  us  rest.  We  would  take  Thy  yoke 
upon  us;  we  would  sit  at  Thy  feet  and  learn  of  Thee;  and  find 
rest  unto  our  souls.  For  Thy  yoke  is  easy,  and  thy  burden  is 
light.     Amen. 


FIFTH  SATURDAY.  169 


ijfift]^  ^atwoa^ 


Lo,  these  are  parts  of  His  ways:  but  how  Uttle  a  portion  is 
heard  of  Him?  but  the  thunder  of  His  power  who  can  under- 
stand? 

Behold  we  count  them  happy  which  endm'e. 

The  question  which  obtrudes  itself  on  the  mind 
as  to  the  reason  of  God's  remedying  evil  instead  of 
preventing  it,  can  never,  with  our  limited  faculties, 
receive  an  answer  completely  satisfactory.  It  be- 
comes us  to  speak  with  caution  and  reverence  on  so 
arduous  a  subject,  as  those,  who  may  indeed,  through 
prayer  and  meditation,  obtain  glimpses,  but  never 
a  full  and  perfect  insight  into  the  mystery.  It  seems 
probable  that  for  the  full  apprehension  and  apprecia- 
tion of  Divine  goodness  by  finite  minds,  it  may  have 
been  necessary  to  present  the  contrast  of  guilt,  mis- 
ery, and  ruin.  The  allowance  in  the  universe  of 
something  antagonistic  to  God  may  have  been  essen- 
tial, not  indeed  to  the  perfection  of  the  Divine  char- 
acter, but  to  our  appreciation  of  that  perfection. 
The  contrast  of  a  dark  ground  brings  out  a  bright 


170        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

color  to  the  eye.  And  in  the  absence  of  the  dark 
ground  the  bright  color  would  not  appear  so  vivid. 
Let  me  take  a  more  detailed  illustration  from  nature. 
We  think  little  of  the  sunlight  on  a  summer  day, 
when  it  pours  around  us  the  warm  and  golden  flood, 
in  which  the  little  insect  disports  itself ;  the  light  is 
the  medium  of  our  seeing  other  objects,  but  itself 
stirs  not  our  admiration.  But  let  the  sun's  rays 
shine  out  against  the  inky  thunder-cloud,  and  form 
the  seven-hued  arch  of  light,  the  sign  of  the  cove- 
nant which  secures  the  earth  against  a  second  deluge. 
The  contrast  brings  out  to  our  eyes  the  beauty  ;  we 
apprehend,  —  we  gaze  with  admiration  upon  the 
prismatic  colors,  melting  one  into  another  by  such 
fine  gradations.  These  colors  really  inhere  in  the 
light  which  is  all  around  us.  But  the  refraction 
from  the  drops  of  the  thunder-cloud  is  essential  to 
their  manifestation.  So  it  may  be  possibly  with  our 
mental  apprehension  of  His  character,  respecting 
whom  it  is  testified  that  "  He  is  Light."  In  order 
that  this  character  may  display  to  a  finite  mind  all 
its  intrinsic  perfections  of  compassion,  love,  tender- 
ness, holiness,  truth,  justice,  —  it  may  be  essential 
that  evil  should  form  a  background  for  them  and  a 
field  for  their  operation,  —  that  they  should  be  re- 
fracted, if  I  may  so  speak,  from  misery,  degradation, 
and  ruin. 


FIFTH  SATURDAY.  171 

The  allowed  entrance  of  evil  may  have  had  refer- 
ence to  the  perfecting  of  human  nature,  as  well  as  to 
the  glorification  of  God.  It  was  finely  said  of  the 
ancient  tragedy,  whose  constant  theme  was  a  hero 
in  misfortune,  that  the  gods  approved  the  spectacle 
of  a  good  man  struggling  with  adversity.  And 
doubtless  it  is  a  noble  spectacle.  A  man  surrounded 
with  evil  —  inhaling  an  atmosphere  of  evil  with  his 
very  breath  of  life  —  made  the  prey  of  calamity  and 
the  sport  of  temptation  —  and  yet  battling  still,  and 
surmounting  all,  in  the  faith  of  the  invisible,  — 
troubled  on  every  side,  yet  not  distressed ;  perplexed, 
but  not  in  despair,  persecuted,  but  not  forsaken ;  cast 
down,  but  not  destroyed  —  like  a  valiant  swimmer, 
always  rearing  his  head  above  the  surge  just  when 
we  thought  it  had  finally  overwhelmed  him  —  made 
perfect,  as  the  Apostle  has  it,  through  sufferings  — 
lifted  up,  Joseph-like,  from  the  dungeon  of  this 
world,  to  sit  upon  the  throne  —  grappling  with  pain 
and  sin  and  error  and  death,  and  coming  off  more 
than  conqueror  over  them  all,  —  is  tliere  not  here 
something  intrinsically  nobler  than  in  an  Adam  of 
Paradise,  a  creature  spotless  indeed,  and  holy,  but 
ignorant  of  evil  and  so  untutored  by  the  manifold 
disciplines  of  evil  ?  May  not  tribulation  perchance 
be  a  condition  essential  to  the  perfecting  of  our 
nature  —  to   the   elaborating  of  it  into  a  vessel  of 


172        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

honor,  meet  for  the  Master's  service  ?  But  tribula- 
tion could  not  have  entered  where  there  was  no  sin. 
It  would  there  have  found  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  its 
foot. 

Summer  days 
And  moonlight  nights  He  led  us  over  paths 
Bordered  with  pleasant  flowers;  but  when  EQs  steps 
Were  on  the  mighty  waters,  —  when  we  went 
With  trembling  hearts  through  nights  of  pain  and  loss,  — 
His  smile  was  sweeter  and  His  love  more  dear; 
And  only  Heaven  is  better  than  to  walk 
With  Christ  at  midnight  over  moonless  seas. 

/~\  ETERNAL  and  blessed  and  glorious  One,  who  seest 
the  end  from  the  beginning;  but  who,  for  our  safety  and 
our  sheltering,  dost  cover  us  with  a  merciful  veil,  and  suffer  us 
to  see  but  parts  of  Thy  wonderful  ways,  make  us  submissive 
to  Thy  will  while  we  adore  Thy  mysteries.  Humble  the  pride 
of  our  understanding,  and  preserve  our  hearts  within  us  from 
all  profane  discontents  with  Thine  appointments.  And  inas- 
much as  Thou  bringest  good  out  of  evil,  and  light  out  of  dark- 
ness, and  dost  nourish  strength  in  the  souls  of  those  who 
patiently  endure  pain  and  loss  and  suffering  at  Thy  righteous 
Hand,  dispose  us  to  an  humble  and  thankful  use  of  all  Thy 
dealings  with  us,  even  of  those  which  are  darkest  to  our  mortal 
sight,  and  so  to  glorify  Thy  holy  name,  through  Christ  our 
Lord.     Amen. 


FIFTH  SUNDAY.  173 


fiftl)  ^unua^. 


Your  joy  no  man  taketh  from  you. 

Although  the  fig-tree  shall  not  blossom,  neither  shall  fruit  be 
in  the  vines  ;  the  labor  of  the  olive  shall  fail,  and  the  fields 
shall  yield  no  meat ;  the  flock  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  fold,  and 
there  shall  be  no  herd  in  the  stall : 

Yet  will  I  rejoice  in  the  Lord,  I  will  joy  in  the  God  of  my 
salvation. 

To  cheristi  brightness  in  the  inward  life  is  a  duty 
that  results  from  the  union  of  the  soul  with  the 
Blessed  Spirit.  The  Spirit  of  God  dwells  in  a  radi- 
ance and  a  glory,  bright  beyond  all  thought.  It  is  His 
everlasting  dwelling-place ;  the  atmosphere  ever  sur- 
rounding His  presence.  It  is  remarkable  with  what 
earnestness  and  frequency  St.  Paul  enjoins  a  spirit  of 
rejoicing,  as  an  essential  part  of  a  spiritual  life  ;  and 
his  words  prove  that  this  injunction  is  intimately 
connected  with  the  indwelling  of  the  Blessed  Spirit. 
He  represents  "  joy  "  as  one  of  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  following  next  in  order  to  "love."  /gain, 
the  Spirit  of  glory  is  spoken  of  as  synonymous  with 
the  Spirit  of  God,  —  "  the  Spirit  of  glory  and  of  God 


174        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

resteth  upon  you,"  — and  glory  is  the  excess  of  joy- 
ous liglit.  The  necessity  of  this  outflowing  of  the 
Spirit  is  most  strongly  pressed  upon  us :  "  Rejoice 
always,  and  again  I  say,  rejoice." 

Moreover,  as  a  bright  joy  is  the  proper  result  of 
the  presence  of  the  Spirit,  so  is  it  a  direct  aid  to  the 
attainment  of  virtue.  There  is  an  instructive  lesson 
in  the  incident  recorded  of  Elisha,  that  once  he 
needed  a  minstrel  with  his  instrument  of  music  to 
allay  his  perturbed  soul,  before  "  the  Hand  of  the 
Lord  "  could  come  upon  him,  and  his  lips  utter  the 
voice  of  prophecy.  It  teaches  the  momentous  truth, 
that  an  unclouded  peace,  a  harmony  of  thought  in 
communion  with  God,  which  is  the  secret  of  spiritual 
joy,  is  the  true  condition  for  receiving  His  inward 
illuminations. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  brightness  is  incon- 
sistent with  sorrow,  or  even  with  deep  remorse  of 
conscience.  It  is  compatible  with  all  states  of  spirit- 
ual life,  however  feeble,  however  burdened.  Where- 
ever  the  Spirit  of  God  dwells  there  must  needs  be  an 
inward  shining  of  the  holy  light  though  hidden  from 
the  outward  eye,  hidden  it  may  be  even  from  the 
consciousness  of  the  soul  itself,  troubled  and  dark- 
ened by  the  passing  cloud.  A  secret  radiance  may 
be  within  the  depth  of  the  spirit  to  shine  out  again 
when  the  storm  is  overpast.     Only  sin,  or  unfaithful- 


FIFTH   SUNDAY.  175 

ness  to  the  voice  of  conscience,  or  slothful  decline 
from  grace,  of  necessity  forfeits  this  blessed  witness 
of  the  presence  of  the  Eternal  Spirit.  It  may  be 
dimmed  or  overcast  by  the  will  of  God,  as  a  chastise- 
ment, or  discipline,  teaching  its  own  needful  lessons 
of  humility  and  trust  and  patient  endurance.  But 
we  should  ever  pray  for  the  continuance  or  renewal 
of  joy.  Rejoicing  is  a  grace  to  be  earnestly  cher- 
ished, as  well  as  a  promised  blessing  ;  a  duty  to  be 
steadily  fulfilled,  as  well  as  a  part  of  our  blessed  in- 
heritance. We  are  expected  to  "  hold  fast  the  con- 
fidence and  the  rejoicing  of  the  hope  firm  unto  the 

end." 

Rejoice  in  Christ  alway  ; 

When  earth  looks  heavenly  bright, 
AVhen  joy  makes  glad  the  livelong  day, 

And  peace  shuts  in  the  night. 
Rejoice,  when  care  and  woe 

The  fainting  soul  oppress, 
When  tears  at  wakeful  midnight  flow. 

And  morn  brings  heaviness. 

Rejoice,  in  hope  and  fear  ; 

Rejoice,  in  life  and  death  ; 
Rejoice,  when  threatening  storms  are  near. 

And  comfort  languisheth  : 
When  should  not  they  rejoice 

Whom  Christ  His  brethren  calls  — 
Who  hear  and  know  His  guiding  voice. 

When  on  their  hearts  it  falls  ? 


176        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

/^  THOU  who  makest  the  sun  to  go  forth  in  glory  out  of  his 
chamber,  rejoicing  as  a  giant  to  run  his  course,  we  bless 
Thee  for  the  light  of  this  world,  for  the  joy  of  beholding  the 
day  and  especially  all  the  days  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Leave  us 
not  in  the  shadow  of  spiritual  death,  or  under  the  cloud  of 
mortal  fear  or  despair,  but  may  the  bright  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness, even  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  never  cease  to  shine  within 
us.  And  so  may  the  desert  of  our  nature  rejoice  and  blossom 
as  the  rose,  and  the  earthly  within  us  be  changed  into  the 
heavenly,  to  Thy  praise  and  glory,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


FIFTH  MONDAY.  177 


fiftt)  ^onMv^ 


Wherefore  doth  a  living  man  complain  ?     Let  us  search  and 
try  our  ways  and  turn  again  to  the  Lord. 
Do  all  thino;s  without  murmurings. 

A  SINGULAR  subtilty  attaches  to  the  sin  of  ex- 
cessive fault-finding,  which  makes  it  remarkably  dif- 
ficult of  correction.  Self-knowledge  is  rare  enough, 
in  respect  to  nearly  all  habitual  transgressions.  Al- 
most every  kind  of  science  is  mastered  with  less 
painstaking.  But  this  knowledge  comes  with  pecul- 
iar slowness  to  complainers.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
one  person  in  a  hundred  of  those  who  are  conspicu- 
ously given  to  looking  on  the  bad  side  of  their  lot, 
pointing  out  real  or  imaginary  foibles  in  their  neigh- 
bors, and  speaking  censoriously  to  their  house- 
mates, would  be  found  to  be  conscious  in  the  least 
degree  of  having  any  other  than  a  charitable  judg- 
ment, a  sweet  tongue,  and  a  reasonably  contented 
disposition.  In  fact  it  would  not  be  a  thing  totally 
unknown  if  the  eye,  so  keen  in  seeing  defects,  should 
be  considered  by  its  possessor  as  a  rather  superior 

12 


178        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

organ  of  discernment,  the  censoriousness  a  righteous 
resentment  at  other  people's  offenses,  and  the  bitter 
speech,  the  frank  vivacity  of  a  clever  critic. 

But  God  searches  us  within,  and  searches  us  out. 
These  perpetual  murmurings  make  no  acceptable 
music  in  His  ear,  and  He  has  condemned  them. 
They  find  no  pattern  or  sanction  in  the  gentleness  of 
the  conversation  of  Christ.  They  are  at  deadly  war 
with  the  charity  which  thinketh  no  evil,  but  suffereth 
long  and  is  kind.  They  disturb  the  air,  ruffle  the 
temper,  provoke  angry  rejoinders,  make  virtue  diffi- 
cult, discourage  penitents,  exasperate  children,  dis- 
order society,  and  degrade  the  honor  of  the  Church. 
They  are  a  gross  form  of  ingratitude  to  God ;  for  if 
we  were  really  mindful  of  the  countless  mercies  we 
are  receiving,  how  could  we  find  time  or  heart  to 
speak  only  of  the  blemishes  or  short-comings  of 
those  around  us  ? 

Many  a  man  who  is  honestly  and  energetically 
doing  a  man's  work  in  the  world,  and  doing  it  on 
Christian  principles,  and  who  really  means  to  be 
neither  a  bad  neighbor  nor  an  unkind  father,  mars 
all  his  labor  and  intercourse  by  a  ceaseless  dribble 
of  ill-natured  accusations  or  querulous  comments. 
Many  a  school-girl  makes  herself  gradually  hateful 
by  simply  overlooking  the  good  traits  and  exaggerat- 
ing the   weaknesses  of  her  companions.      Many  a 


FIFTH  MONDAY.  179 

housekeeper  moves  about  her  domestic  domain,  not 
a  tyrant  or  a  slattern,  but  more  mischievous  than 
either,  fretting  at  the  perversity  of  every  article  of 
furniture,  the  imperfections  of  every  servant,*  the 
happening  of  every  mischance.  Nay,  in  a  more  sol- 
emn and  awful  wronging  of  the  Spirit,  many  a 
mother,  blessed  with  ten  thousand  daily  benefits 
from  Heaven,  gives  her  children  only  a  daily  ex- 
ample of  wretched  dissatisfaction.  She  may  even 
aggravate  and  fix  in  the  character  of  her  child 
habits  of  disobedience  or  negligence  by  simply  ex- 
pecting them,  watching  for  them,  satirizing  them, 
with  never  a  healing  whisper  of  approval  or  a  gra- 
cious accent  of  hearty  encouragement.  Not  so  does 
the  Father  in  heaven  bring  His  "  Avandering  and 
distempered  child "  homeward,  and  give  His  sons 
and  daughters  their  cheerful  places  in  His  House. 

Whoever  is  in  bondage  to  an  error  so  unsightly 
and  so  disastrous  may  find  help  in  these  four  brief 
counsels  :  — 

One  day  in  every  week  keep  a  rigid  account  with 
yourself  of  all  you  say  ;  every  few  minutes  ask  your- 
self how  many  times  you  have  spoken  complain- 
ingly ;  and  present  the  score  to  yourself  and  God  for 
reckoning  at  night. 

Dare  to  ask  some  trusted  person  to  give  you  a 
sign  whenever  you  fall  into  the  bad  practice. 


180        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Be  in  the  habit  of  counting  up  your  blessings, 
especially  those  that  pertain  to  your  person  and  your 
home. 

Ask  God  to  send  you  special  strength  to  conquer 
this  easily  besetting  sin. 

Light  human  nature  is  too  lightly  tost 
And  ruffled  without  cause ;  complaining  on  — 
Restless  with  rest  —  until,  being  overthrown, 
It  learneth  to  lie  quiet.     Let  a  frost 
Or  a  small  wasp  have  crept  to  the  innermost 
-     Of  our  ripe  peach;  or  let  the  wilful  sun 

Shine  westward  of  our  window,  —  straight  we  run 
A  furlong's  sigh,  as  if  the  world  were  lost. 
But  what  time  through  the  heart  and  through  the  brain 
God  hath  transfixed  us  —  we,  so  moved  before. 
Attain  to  a  calm;  aye,  shouldering  weights  of  pain, 
We  anchor  in  deep  waters,  safe  from  shore; 
And  hear,  submissive,  o'er  the  stormy  main, 
God's  chartered  judgments  walk  for  evermore. 

/^  GOD  of  infinite  patience  and  long  suffering  unspeakable, 
who  hearest  all  our  miserable  complainings,  and  seest 
all  our  disregard  of  Thine  unnumbered  mercies,  let  not  our 
sins  of  word  and  temper  be  written  against  us.  Grant  us  re- 
pentance and  better  minds,  that  we  may  forgive  as  we  hope  to 
be  forgiven,  and  that  we  forfeit  not  Thy  continued  forbearance 
and  loving  kindness  towards  us  and  those  we  love,  for  Thy 
great  goodness'  sake  in  Jesus  Christ,  Thy  Son,  our  Lord. 
Amen, 


nFTH  TUESDAY.  181 


fiUT^  Cue0tiat 


Lying  lips  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord. 
Wherefore  putting  away  lying,  speak  every  man  truth  with  his 
neighbor. 

Falsehood,  in  other  words,  has  its  deepest  guilt 
and  its  certainty  of  punishment  in  this,  —  that  it 
crosses  God's  will,  contradicts  His  character,  and  is 
hateful  to  His  feeling.  The  subject  is  lifted  at 
once  out  of  the  region  of  mere  expediency,  and  set 
purely  on  the  grounds  of  religion.  We  are  put  in 
mind  not  of  the  human  consequences  of  lying,  not 
of  its  social  mischiefs,  nor  of  its  moral  meanness  ; 
its  one  great  effect  is  that  it  offends  the  Almighty ; 
its  comprehensive  mischief,  under  all  its  varieties 
and  disguises,  is  its  sacrilege ;  its  worst  meanness  is 
its  ingratitude  to  the  Heavenly  Father.  We  must 
remember  all  along,  therefore,  that  it  is  not  merely 
an  immorality  that  we  are  contemplating,  but  an 
impiety.  The  wise  man  does  not  charge  it  upon 
lying  lips,  as  he  might,  that  they  are  an  injury  to 
men :  he  strikes  deeper  and  tells  us  the  more  alarming 


182        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

secret  that  they  are  abomination  to  the  Lord.  By 
the  Gospel  every  moral  obligation  is  traced  up  to 
its  source  in  the  mind  of  God ;  there  is  no  ethics  but 
Christian  ethics ;  the  duties  of  society  are  all  duties 
first  to  the  Creator ;  and  the  highest  motive  for  the 
simplest  act  of  justice  is  to  honor  God,  or  conform- 
ity to  His  will. 

And  as  this  is  the  loftiest  view  of  the  subject,  so 
we  shall  find  it  is  the  most  practical.  The  mind  is  so 
constituted  in  itself,  that  it  is  impressed  vrith  a  fresh 
and  fearful  sense  of  what  a  falsehood  is,  the  moment 
it  realizes  that  the  falsehood  is  a  contradiction  of 
God.  No  matter  how  trivial  the  occasion,  or  how 
remote  the  matter  of  the  lie  may  be  from  all  the 
high  concerns  of  Heaven,  it  is  told  in  the  full  pres- 
ence and  plain  hearing  of  our  Judge.  Let  it  pertain 
to  so  insignificant  an  interest  as  a  piece  of  merchan- 
dise in  the  market,  or  a  school-boy's  whisper,  or  a 
demagogue's  declamation,  or  a  woman's  jealousy, 
instantly  the  roof  is  uncovered,  the  walls  retreat, 
earthly  scenery  sweeps  away,  —  all  is  open  up  to 
the  Great  White  Throne,  and  the  false  tongue  is 
speaking  to  its  Maker.  He  hears  it,  and  it  is  an 
abomination  to  Him.  The  lie  may  prosper  for  its 
purpose.  The  multitudinous  waves  of  traflfic  roll  on 
with  their  noise,  and  the  good  bargain,  closed  by  the 
deceit,  thrives  without  rebuke  ;  the  child  escapes  the 


FIFTH  TUESDAY.  183 

punisliment  lie  deserved  and  forgets  the  sin  ;  the 
slanderous  speaker's  point  tells,  and  his  candidate 
goes  in  ;  the  swift  stream  of  social  gossip  and  mirth 
makes  no  pause  when  the  flippant  or  envious  tongue 
insults  the  unseen  Auditor  who  is  listening ;  but  He 
is  listening,  and  after  the  lights  are  all  out,  the 
school-room  locked,  the  election  over,  and  the  market 
still, — the  falsehood  remains  stamped  in  letters 
which  some  time  or  other  will  look  intensely  bright, 
as  if  they  were  written  with  fire  because  it  was  an 
abomination  to  the  Lord. 

It  will  help  us,  too,  to  appreciate  the  surprising 
facility  that  is  shown  in  learning  to  tolerate  the 
abomination,  and  the  energy  of  the  temptation,  to 
notice  the  prolific  variety  of  shapes  into  which  a 
spirit  that  is  willing  to  be  false  throws  itself  out.  It 
would  seem,  in  fact,  that  there  is  scarcely  an  assaila- 
ble point  or  quality  in  us,  which  is  not  capable  of 
being  suborned  into  this  depraved  service  of  deceit. 
There  is  the  lie  of  sheer  cowardice,  told  to  evade  some 
threatened  personal  danger,  or  the  formidable  lion  of 
public  opinion,  or  the  ridicule  of  unprincipled  associ- 
ates, which  was  Peter's  lie  at  the  High  Priest's  court. 
There  is  the  lie  of  cupidity  and  money-making,  —  di- 
rect and  indirect,  —  one  of  the  sordid  sins  of  com- 
mercial populations,  and  sometimes,  as  in  Ananias 
and  Sapphira,  making  its  sacrilegious   compromise 


184        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

with  the  profession  of  Christian  liberality.  There  is 
the  lie  of  convenience,  as  when  children,  and  beggars, 
and  tedious  visitors  are  put  off  with  a  deception,  to 
get  a  riddance  of  their  annoyance  and  importunity. 
There  is  the  lie  of  shame,  like  Gehazi's,  when,  after 
craftily  wounding  his  hospitable  master's  honor  by 
accepting  Naaman's  gifts,  he  said  to  Elisha,  "  Thy 
servant  went  no  whither."  There  is  the  lie  of  flat- 
tery, with  its  double  wrong,  —  Satan  coming  by  it 
in  the  angelic  garment  of  amiability,  or  the  wish  to 
please.  There  is  the  lie  of  ambition,  the  guile  that 
spoils  the  eloquence  of  orators  and  authors  who  have 
popularity  for  their  god  and  office  for  their  heaven, 
—  the  crooked  path  through  which  thousands  all 
round  us  creep  through  corruption  to  the  disappoint- 
ments of  what  looked  once  to  them  like  leading  po- 
sitions. There  is  the  conventional  lie,  as  in  the  false 
labels  of  business,  or  the  false  excuse  at  the  door, 
for  which  it  is  pleaded  that  custom  has  made  it 
harmless,  but  of  which  it  is  enough  to  observe  in 
reply  that  if  nohody  were  deceived  by  it  it  would  not 
be  kept  up,  and  that  God  has  nowhere  told  us  that  a 
custom  in  sin  makes  the  sin  sinless.  There  is  the  lie 
of  indolence,  feigning  sickness,  or  inability,  to  escape 
work  for  Christ  or  trouble  for  the  needy.  There  is 
the  lie  of  revenge,  with  the  gall  and  wormwood  of 
slander  dripping  from  its  tongue.     There  is  the  lie 


FIFTH   TUESDAY.  185 

of  vanity,  with  what  the  Apostle  calls  its  "great 
swelling  words"  of  boasting,  or  else  making  the 
abused  body  the  burden-bearer  of  a  whole  theatre  of 
illusions.  There  is  the  lie  of  reckless  ingenuity,  the 
love  of  the  marvelous,  inventing  wonders  or  adding 
to  them,  as  if  truth  itself  were  but  a  plaything,  and 
imagination  the  godless  conjurer  to  sport  with  it. 
Then  there  are  all  the  degrees  of  falsehood,  —  exag- 
gerations, or  adding  to  the  truth,  extenuations,  or 
taking  from  it,  —  of  which  it  is  enough  to  say  that 
when  once  a  living  conscience  takes  knowledge  how 
easily  their  falsifying  processes  go  on,  it  must  watch 
their  beginnings  as  we  watch  the  first  symptoms  of 
pestilence.  There  are  equivocations,  deceptions  in 
which  people  allow  themselves  by  first  practicing  the 
self-deception  that  a  falsehood  half-hidden  from  men 
is  wholly  hidden  from  God,  or  that  it  is  safe  to  go 
half-way  in  that  which  is  an  abomination  to  Him. 
You  need  not  be  reminded  that  there  are  acted  false- 
hoods, of  manner  and  gesture,  of  signs  and  ornaments, 
of  pretended  friendship  and  assumed  cordiality  and 
hypocritical  devotion  ;  nor  need  it  be  repeated  to  you 
that  speech  is  no  more  an  expression  of  the  mind 
than  action  is,  and  that  by  lying  lips  Scripture 
means  all  the  lies  that  the  whole  body  can  tell,  and 
that  one  of  them  is  just  as  hateful  to  the  God  of 
truth,  and  just  as  sure  of  judgment,  as  another. 


186        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Be  God's  prophet  to  yourself,  and  let  this  Lenten 
solemnity  give  you  a  brave  and  honest  will  to  set 
your  standard  of  truthfulness,  in  speech  and  in  con- 
duct, at  a  higher  mark  ;  to  change,  as  you  are  per- 
fectly able  to  do,  by  a  little  Christian  courage  and 
spirit,  ambiguous  customs  ;  to  cover  up  with  refine- 
ments and  elegancies  no  hollow  or  deceptive  hearts  ; 
to  require  of  your  clerks,  your  servants,  your  chil- 
dren, no  complicity  in  words  or  acts  that  will  not 
bear  the  full  light  of  tlie  Bible-inspiration  and  of  the 
judgment  day,  — to  put  away  lying  and  speak  every 
man  truth  with  his  neighbor.  Nor  will  there  ever 
be  a  better  time  to  begin  to  come  back  to  religious 
reality  than  now. 

All  the  grandeurs  of  righteousness  grow  out  of 
truth  in  the  inner  parts.  All  the  glories  of  heaven 
are  but  the  triumph  of  the  Truth,  —  say  the  blos- 
soming of  it,  rather,  into  those  immortal  gardens 
with  no  serpent  in  them.  And  so  in  all  the  black- 
ness of  darkness  there  is  no  depth  of  misery  which 
does  not  open  down  from  that  beginning  of  false- 
hood, when  the  sinning  heart  says  to  itself,  after 
the  great  lie  that  blighted  Eden  and  ruined  man, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  surely  die." 

One  can  imagine  that  under  these  awful  sentences, 
—  "  Without  the  gates  of  the  City  of  God  is  who- 
soever loveth  and    maketh   a  lie,"  — "  The   lying 


FIFTH  TUESDAY.  187 

tongue  is  but  for  a  moment;'  —  "  Lying  lips  are  an 
abomination  to  the  Lord,"  —and  "  He  that  saith  I 
know  -Him  and  keepeth  not  His  commandments  is  a 
liar  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him,"  —  the  best  soldier 
of  the  Cross  and  the  purest  saint  at  the  Saviour's 
feet  might  be  dismayed.  And  we  can  only  reassure 
ourselves,  when  we  recall  those  wonderful  words  of 
St.  John  which  change  the  face  of  the  world  from 
terror  to  thanksgiving :  "  If  we  say  that  we  have 
no  sin  we  make  Him  a  liar  and  the  truth  is  not  in 
us.  But  if  we  confess  our  sins,  God  is  faithful  and 
just  to  forgive  us  our  sins  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all 
unrighteousness.  For  we  have  an  advocate  with  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  Righteous,  and  He  is  the 
propitiation  for  our  sins;  and  the  anointing  which 
ye  have  received  of  Him  is  truth  and  is  no  lie,  and, 
even  as  it  hath  taught  you,  ye  shall  abide  in  Him." 

O  man  of  Calvary  and  Bethlehem, 

Thou  who  didst  suffer  rather  than  condemn, 

Grant  us  to  touch  Thy  garment's  healing  hem. 

Thou  trailest  Thy  fair  robes  of  seamless  light 

Through  this  dark  world  of  falsehood,  death,  and  night; 

Its  blackness  cannot  mar  Thy  spotless  white. 

Thou  dost  not.  Master,  as  we  pass  Thee  by, 
Draw  in  Thy  robes  lest  we  should  come  too  nigh. 
Our  lying  lives  are  open  to  Thine  eye. 


188  NEW  HELPS   TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

There  is  no  shrinking  from  our  untrue  touch, 

Thy  tenderness  to  us  is  ever  such. 

Change,  and  forgive  !  and  we  will  love  Thee  much. 

TUST  and  true  are  all  Thy  ways,  Thou  King  of  Saints! 
Pardon,  we  entreat  Thee,  the  insincerity  of  our  lips,  the 
deceitfulness  of  our  minds,  and  the  untruthfulness  of  our  lives. 
Thou,  who  earnest  into  the  world  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth, 
uphold  us  in  the  paths  of  integrity  and  honor.  Make  us  both 
ashamed  and  afraid  to  offend  Thee  by  breaking  Thy  righteous 
commandment.  And  suffer  us  at  the  last,  through  Thy  pro- 
pitiation, to  enter  in  where  entereth  nothing  that  defileth  or 
that  maketh  a  lie.     We  ask  it  for  Thy  mercy's  sake.    Amen. 


SIXTH  WEDNESDAY.  189 


^ijcti)  mtmmat 


The  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness. 

Just  balances,  just  weights,  a  just  ephah,  and  a  just  hin 
shall  ye  love. 

A  false  balance  is  abomination  to  the  Lord,  but  a  just  weight 
is  His  delight. 

Swinging  in  the  air  before  our  eyes  this  tangible 
type  represents  the  law  and  duty  of  justice  with 
singular  accuracy  and  beauty.  A  pair  of  scales  is 
the  symbol  of  mutuality,  or  reciprocity,  between 
man  and  man.  Each  side  or  cup  of  the  scales  with 
its  contents  owes  its  position  not  to  any  natural 
value  or  independent  force  it  has  in  itself,  but  to 
what  there  is  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  support. 
The  true  position,  when  both  rest  after  their  vibra- 
tion, is  that  when  the  opposite  weights  are  equal. 
These  are  the  mutual  rights  of  men.  The  standard, 
supporting  the  whole,  firm  and  fixed,  represents  the 
upholding  Hand  of  God,  keeping  just  men  and  unjust 
men,  for  the  time,  alike,  while  it  tries  and  proves 
them,  what  manner  of  men  they  are,  and  how  they 


190        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

turn.  The  two  arms,  parts  of  one  whole,  resting  on 
this  upright  prop,  are  the  great  regular  operations, 
the  customs  and  laws,  of  traffic,  social  communica- 
tion and  influence.  Suspended  from  them,  by  that 
chain  which  ties  us  all  to  the  social  and  commercial 
system,  are  individuals,  with  their  freewill,  con- 
science, and  temptations.  Will  you,  the  individual, 
be  just  ?  —  is  the  question.  Will  you  be  content 
with  the  fair,  right  balance,  between  all  your  inter- 
ests, pleasures,  claims,  rights,  and  other  men's  ? 
Will  selfishness  surrender  that  to  which  self  has  no 
fair  title  ?  Will  you  be  uneasy,  as  the  balances  are, 
till  you  honorably  and  righteously  adjust  yourself  to 
every  fellow  being's  rightful  demand  ?  Will  you 
empty  your  hands  of  everything  in  them,  no  matter 
how  much  what  you  hold  there  may  gratify  sense, 
or  ambition,  or  pride,  no  matter  how  necessary  it 
may  be  to  keep  up  the  apparatus  and  style  which 
seem  to  you  now  like  a  part  of  your  life,  —  will  you 
give  it  all  up,  and  so  be  clean-handed  even  though 
you  shall  be  empty-handed,  Just  with  God  ?  Will 
you  ?  Dare  you  ?  Then  you  know  where  you  are, 
and  Who  is  with  you,  and  how  it  will  all  go  and  be 
with  you :  for  it  is  written  down  in  almost  every 
form  of  benediction :  "  The  just  shall  come  out  of 
trouble."  "  A  just  man  falleth  seven  times  and 
riseth  again."     "  The  oppressor  may  heap  up  silver 


SIXTH  WEDNESDAY.  191 

as  the  dust,  and  prepare  raiment  as  the  clay,  he  may 
prepare  it,  but  the  just  shall  put  it  on  and  the  inno- 
cent shall  divide  the  silver."  "  The  Lord  blesseth 
the  habitation  of  the  just."  Nay,  he  has  the  springs 
of  a  jubilant  satisfaction  in  himself.  "  It  is  a  joy  to 
the  just  to  do  judgment."  His  course  is  no  flat, 
tame,  or  dusky  road  of  drudgery  and  commonplace  ; 
it  mounts  up  into  the  splendors  where  the  spiritual 
noontide  fulfills  the  hope  of  the  morning :  "  The 
path  of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light  that  shineth 
more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  Beyond  that, 
''the  memory  of  the  just  is  blessed."  It  is  written 
in  the  first  book  of  the  Bible,  —  the  prophecy  of 
all  time :  "  I  know  him  that  he  will  command  his 
children  and  his  household  after  him,  and  they  shall 
keep  the  way  of  the  Lord  to  do  justice  and  judg- 
ment, that  the  Lord  may  bring  upon  him  that  which 
He  hath  spoken."  It  is  written  in  the  last  book, 
where  time  is  ended,  and  the  resurrection  of  the  just 
has  come,  and  the  assembly  of  the  just,  now  made 
perfect,  is  gathered,  and  the  everlasting  anthem  is 
begun,  "  Just  and  true  are  Thy  ways.  Thou  King 
of  Saints."  And  when  these  Scriptures  eulogize  the 
heroes  preeminent  in  justice,  observe  what  lofty  and 
elect  spirits  they  mention,  Noah  and  Abraham,  Lot 
and  Job,  Simeon  and  John  and  Joseph ;  nay,  they 
are  not  afraid  to  find  in  that  plain  virtue  a  title  of 


192        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

dignity  for  Jesus  Himself,  calling  Him  ''  the  Holy- 
One  and  the  Just." 

Come  back  now  to  our  earthly  societies,  and  the 
daily  trying  of  this  virtue  here.  Almost  all  our  life 
is  implicated  in  some  social  relation  :  and  in  all  the 
enlarging  series  of  circles,  —  the  family,  the  school, 
the  neighborhood,  the  sphere  of  public  business,  the 
nation,  —  that  balancing  of  mutual  rights,  with  all 
its  delicate  exposures  and  dangers,  its  sources  of  sin, 
and  pain,  and  meanness,  and  moral  victory  and 
glory,  is  going  on.  Hence  is  the  solemn  necessity 
and  the  religious  sanctity  of  justice,  —  such  justice 
as  only  Christ  teaches  and  the  Christian  learns. 
And  because  of  all  these  various  kinds  of  commerce, 
the  commerce  of  material  things,  in  property  and 
merchandise,  stands  as  a  kind  of  representative  and 
illustration,  so  the  scales  have  become  the  recognized 
symbol  of  commercial  honesty.  The  "  false  bal- 
ance "  is  the  special  falsehood  of  commerce  :  but  it 
is  the  emblem  of  all  injustice.  On  the  one  side 
something  is  given  or  taken  for  which  there  is  no 
offset  on  the  other.  And  yet,  observe  there  seems 
to  be  an  offset.  The  scales  hang  even  to  the  eye. 
But  something  which  is  not  the  just  weight  is  put 
in  to  look  as  if  it  were,  to  satisfy  appearances  by  a 
deception.  The  buyer  gets  something  for  which  he 
paid  nothing ;    or  the   seller  is  paid  something  for 


SIXTH  WEDNESDAY.  193 

which  he  delivers  nothing.     And  this  is  done,  not 
by  the  frank  and  open  injustice  which  lets  the  un- 
even scales  hang  out  in  sight,  so  that  the  victim  may- 
know  that  he  is  wi'onged :  that  is  the  old  and  bold 
injustice  of  semi-barbarous  days,  when  feudal  robbers 
built  their   castles   on   rocks  overhanging  the  fords 
and  entrapped  the  merchant  caravans  as  they  crossed 
the  streams  between  the  markets ;  that  was  the  less 
cunning   and   less   cowardly  robbery  of  the   outlaw 
and   freebooter,  whose  only  law  was   in  his  sword, 
and   his  only  conscience  in  his  glove,  and  his  only 
right  was   might;   it   is  done  now   rather   by  some 
deception  that  slips  the  falsehood  into  the   balance 
itself,  leaving  the  transaction  unchallenged,  the  fraud 
safe,  and   the  villain  to   go   unarmed  and   unques- 
tioned  through   the    streets    every   day,    into   good 
society  every   evening,  and   on   Sunday  to   church. 
The  way  these  more  open  and  disgraceful  kinds  of 
dishonesty  creep   in  is  through  the  undermining  of 
sound  principle  first,  the  clouding  of  the  clear  con- 
science first,  the  toleration  of  both  the  idea  and  the 
fact  of  fraudulent  connivance  first,  in  trivial  and  un- 
noticed affairs.     "  We  are  not  worst  at  first."     The 
birth-place  of   those  vast  and   awful  wrongs,  which 
occasionally  startle  the  community  into  horror,  lies 
back  in  the  petty  injustices  where  children  are  al- 
lowed to  take  unfair  advantage  of  those  weaker  or 

13 


194        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

younger  or  poorer  than  themselves,  in  the  selfish  ex- 
actions of  the  nursery,  the  over-reaching  and  decep- 
tion of  the  play-ground,  the  careless  accounts  with 
ignorant  and  dependent  people  which  a  loose  moral 
sense  dismisses  as  insignificant.  No,  they  are  fear- 
fully significant. 

Gradually  the  mind  that  is  familiarized  with  the 
notion  of  injustice  grows  unscrupulous  and  faithless. 
That  is  the  history  of  all  the  gigantic  public  oppres- 
sions that  have  sent  up  their  cry  till  the  cry  has  en- 
tered into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth.  You 
will  find  that  the  warnings  of  the  Old  Testament 
prophets,  through  the  periods  of  national  decline, 
are  almost  constantly  directed  to  uneven  balances,  — 
to  oppression  and  exaction,  to  legalized  wrong,  to  the 
making  of  the  poor  poorer,  and  the  burdens  of  the 
weak  harder  to  be  borne :  "  Are  not  my  ways  equal  ? 
Are  not  your  ways  unequal  ?  Cease  to  do  evil. 
Relieve  the  oppressed.  Right  the  fatherless.  Plead 
for  the  widow."  "  Shall  I  count  them  pure  with  the 
deceitful  balances  ?  "  saith  the  Lord.  It  could  not 
have  been  by  accident,  that  the  Apostle  took  pains 
to  write  to  the  Church,  "  Give  unto  your  servants 
that  which  is  just  and  equal."  The  poor,  who  have 
few  friends  to  confide  their  sorrows  to,  often  tell 
them  to  their  ministers  ;  and  many  a  minister  could 
uncover  if  he  chose  amazing  and  humiliating  wrongs 


SIXTH  WEDNESDAY.  195 

borne  by  needy  work-women  and  artisans  in  the 
humblest  condition,  from  the  simple  withholding, 
from  day  to  day,  or  week  to  week,  of  their  little 
dues  in  wages  by  opulent  employers,  who  would  re- 
sent the  faintest  suggestion  of  dishonesty,  —  their 
very  habit  of  dealing  only  with  large  amounts  mak- 
ing it  impossible  for  them  to  realize  that  a  day's 
delay  of  a  dollar  sometimes  leaves  the  family  board 
absolutely  bare  of  bread.  It  is  the  injustice  of  their 
thoughtlessness.  But  it  is  injustice.  The  balance 
is  not  even.  The  just  weight  is  wanting.  There 
are  hungry  children  crying  in  the  night ;  there  is  a 
sad  household  somewhere ;  there  is  no  food  for  the 
mouth,  but  there  is  fearful  food"  for  skepticism  and 
despair,  —  doubts  of  men  and  doubts  of  God,  and 
all  that  perilous  preparation  of  dumb  discontent,  out 
of  which  the  whirlwinds  of  revolution  are  finally  let 
loose. 

What  we  all  most  need  in  this  great  and  holy 
doctrine  of  justice  is  not  so  much  a  repetition  of  the 
ordinary  remonstrances  against  it,  as  that  deeper 
insight  into  its  springs  and  secret  workings,  which, 
in  some  sense,  spiritualizes  the  morality  of  it,  smiting 
the  soul  with  a  reverent  perception  and  adoration  of 
the  immaculate  justice  in  Christ  our  Lord.  And  it 
is  on  that  line  of  thought  that  you  will  all  see  how 
far  we  come  short  of  what  He  demands,  if  we  stop 


196        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

and  content  ourselves  with  the  mere  external  rules 
of  integrity.  Think  rather,  —  if  you  would  begin 
with  the  roots  of  the  truth,  and  let  it  grow  up  strong 
and  living  within  you,  —  of  the  injustices  of  our 
more  retired  and  inward  commerce  with  each  other, 
where  no  bargains  are  struck,  and  no  visible  value 
changes  hands.  Think  of  the  injustice  of  our  social 
judgments,  —  of  our  rash  and  envious  suspicions, 
not  concealed  either  but  spoken  out,  —  of  the  unjust 
imputation  of  motives,  of  prejudice,  of  unworthy 
and  unwarranted  construction  where  a  fairer  theory 
would  suit  the  facts  just  as  well.  Consider  the  in- 
justice done  to  children,  in  prejudging  their  little  is- 
sues, in  shutting  off  their  defenses  and  explanations, 
in  taking  their  silence,  shyness,  and  unskillfulness 
and  alarm  for  tokens  of  conscious  guilt ;  in  refusing 
the  patient  sympathy  that  enters  into  the  pathos  and 
misery  of  those  hours  of  strange  sorrow  they  have, 
which  are  only  the  painful  throes  of  high  and  nobler 
aspiration  beating  against  the  bars  of  natural  reserve 
and  fighting  their  way  out  to  manly  or  womanly 
power.  Think  of  the  injustice  of  anger  and  impa- 
tience that  is  often  intermixed  in  even  their  deserved 
reproofs  and  punishments,  and  compare  it  with  that 
gracious  judgment  of  the  Rod  of  Jesus  of  which  it 
is  so  tenderly  written  that  "  He  shall  reprove  with 
equity  for  the  meek  of  the  earth."     Think  of  the 


SIXTH  WEDNESDAY.  197 

injustice  to  sensitive  natures  in  reckoning  with  them 
all  as  if  they  were  moulded  in  one  pattern,  with 
uniform  temperaments  or  the  same  discipline,  or  as 
if  all  who  undertake  the  Christian  calling  undertook 
it  with  the  same  strength,  or  at  the  same  point  of 
advance.  Probably  there  are  very  few  hearts  but 
feel  that  at  times  the  balances  are  hung  unevenly 
and  cruelly  against  them.  Nor  should  we  ever  find 
the  reconciling  of  this  wrong,  if  we  did  not  betake 
ourselves  to  Him  who  carried  our  griefs,  who  died, 
the  just  for  the  unjust,  and  whose  sacrifice  of  Him- 
self righted  the  wrongs  and  redeemed  the  bondage 
of  our  Race. 

In  fact,  all  these  exercises  of  ours  in  what  is  just 
and  equitable  between  man  and  man  are  only  a  kind 
of  school  to  educate  us  the  better  into  a  completer 
knowledge  of  the  justice  of  God.  Confess,  as  we 
ought,  praise  and  bless,  as  we  must,  the  mercy  and 
the  truth  that  go  before  His  face,  w^e  can  yet  never 
forget  that  it  is  justice  and  judgment  that  are  the 
habitation  of  His  throne.  Reverence  would  fail, 
awe  would  sink,  worship  would  degenerate  into  a 
weak,  fond  familiarity,  were  the  balance  between 
His  equity  and  His  compassion  unsettled.  So  you 
find  that  it  is  the  men  of  the  most  scrupulous  sense 
of  human  right  that  appreciate  this  attribute  in  the 
Almighty,  while  sentimentalists  and  visionaries,  not 


198        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

trusting  it  in  God,  are  the  less  trusty  with  men.  So 
you  find,  too,  that  that  earlier  economy  of  Divine 
Law,  given  by  Moses,  which  had  it  for  its  special 
object  to  train  and  discipline  God's  People  in  the 
one  great  reality  of  His  Personal  Government  over 
the  world,  practically  worked  this  necessity  of  justice, 
by  repeated  statutes  and  sanctions,  into  the  national 
mind.  "  Just  balances,  just  weights,  a  just  ephah 
and  a  just  hin  shall  ye  have."  "  Thou  shalt  not 
have  in  thine  house  divers  measures,  a  great  and  a 
small  (lest  possibly  the}^  might  be  mixed  together) 
but  thou  shalt  have  a  perfect  and  just  weight,  a 
perfect  and  just  measure,  that  thy  days  may  be 
lengthened  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. 
For  all  that  do  unrighteously  are  an  abomination  unto 
the  Lord  thy  God."  And  when  this  schooling  of 
the  just  law  is  filled  out,  opening  into  the  richer  min- 
istry of  Grace  in  the  Cross,  under  whose  shadow  we 
and  the  whole  Church  are  now  drawing  day  by  day, 
still  Justice  is  never  forgotten  or  discredited  or 
veiled  ;  the  atonement  loves  justice  while  it  loves 
the  unjust  soul ;  and  so  it  is  written  of  the  Divine 
and  matchless  mystery  of  reconciliation  :  "  That  He 
might  he  just,  and  yet  the  justifier  of  him  that  be- 
lieveth  in  Jesus."  In  St.  Peter's  burning  sermon, 
after  the  Resurrection,  at  Jerusalem,  in  St.  Ste- 
phen's dying  defense,  in  St.  Paul's  divine  commission 


SIXTH  WEDNESDAY.  199 

at  Damascus,  the  Saviour  is  called  the  "  Just  One," 
and  we  are  told  that  none  living  are  His,  in  the 
regeneration  here  or  the  resurrection  hereafter,  but 
the  just  by  faith. 

Business  men  and  devout  women  may  be  Chris- 
tians, and  devising  liberal  things  for  their  Master, 
whose  hands  have  never  learned  to  Avipe  out  the 
small  dust  of  deceit  which  usage  and  precedent  have 
left  in  the  balance.  But  the  sooner  they  make  away 
with  it,  the  better  honor  for  the  Head,  and  the  better 
progress  and  power  for  the  Church.  Remember, 
nothing  stays  her  wheels  like  the  frauds  of  her  de- 
fenders. Nothing  under  the  Holy  Spirit  speeds 
them  like  saints  whose  ways,  patterned  after  their 
Eternal  King's,  are  true  and  just. 

Once,  as  at  this  sorrowful  season,  it  was  Hebrew 
hypocrisy  and  Roman  contempt  that  denied  that 
Holy  and  Just  Jesus.  But  our  injustices,  shielded 
under  His  name,  may  deny  Him  still.  May  He  put 
his  balance  and  weight  not  only  into  our  hands,  but 
into  our  hearts,  lead  us  in  the  straight  way,  and 
make  His  House  of  praise  a  habitation  of  the  just ! 

"  My  God,  be  merciful  to  me!  "  I  cried. 
He  raised  me  up, 

With  wine  revived  me  from  His  blessed  cup, 
And  when  I  lifted  up  my  drooping  head, 


200        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

He  gently  said, 

*'  He  who  would  bear  my  light  and  easy  yoke 
Must  wear  love's  bridle  also  in  his  lips. 
Love  is  a  spring 

Which  in  the  dark  depths  of  the  heart  must  rise, 
Fed  from  the  skies, 
Extend  its  influence  to  everything, 
To  just  deeds,  truthful  lips,  and  gentle  eyes. 
This  is  the  charity  alone  I  prize, 
Not  that  which,  while  it  clothes  one  brother, 
Doth  pierce  with  wrong  the  spirit  of  another. 
Go  forth,  my  daughter,  to  thy  work  once  more, 
I  for  that  garment  wait  without  thy  door; 
But  while  their  blessed  work  thy  hands  pursue, 
Be  thy  thoughts  also  to  their  Master  true.'* 
He  left  me;  and  with  spirit  chastened, 
Back  to  my  work  I  hastened . 
I  sat  and  busily  my  fingers  plied 
In  working  for  the  poor  and  destitute. 
My  work  within  me  did  sweet  thoughts  create 
Of  Him  who  died, 
And  who  would  say  of  deeds  of  sympathy, 

**  Ye  did  them  unto  Me.'* 
But  with  these  thoughts  of  grace 
My  lips,  alas!  refused  to  keep  pace; 
And  harsh  and  unjust  words  I  idly  spoke; 
When  suddenly  a  light  around  me  broke. 
And  I  was  in  the  presence  of  the  King. 
I  sought  the  fond  approval  of  His  eye 
By  lifting  up  my  work  of  charity, 
And  marveled  that  it  did  not  win  His  smile; 


SIXTH  WEDNESDAY.  201 

"V\Tien  lo !  I  thought  upon  my  words  of  guile, 
And  fell  before  Him  sadly  on  my  face, 
For  now  I  knew  what  brought  the  dark  eclipse 
Betwixt  the  brightness  of  His  face  and  me. 

npHOU  God  of  righteousness  and  truth,  whose  blessing  rest- 
eth  only  on  those  who  being  justified  by  faith  strive  to 
obey  Thy  just  and  holy  law,  blot  out  our  transgressions,  com- 
mitted either  through  unbelief  toward  Thee  or  injustice  to- 
wards our  neighbors.  Bless  all  those  that  we  have  wronged,  or 
defrauded,  or  scorned,  or  slighted.  Help  us  to  restore  to  them 
fourfold  for  every  injury,  and  henceforth  to  walk  with  them 
in  uprightness  and  true  charity.  And  so  may  Thy  benediction 
rest  on  our  souls,  our  substance,  our  dwellings,  and  on  Thy 
Church  in  which  we  are  members,  through  Christ  Thy  Son, 
our  Lord.     Amen. 


202        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^ixti)  Cl^wjstjat. 


Jesus  saith  unto  tliem,  Follow  Me. 

He  that  abideth.  in  Me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  bringeth  forth 
much  fruit:  for  without  Me  ye  can  do  nothing. 

I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth  me. 

Set  your  aflfections  on  things  above,  not  on  things  on  the 
earth.  For  ye  are  dead,  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God. 

Believers  are  in  Christ,  so  as  to  be  partakers  in 
all  that  He  does,  and  has,  and  is.  They  died  with 
Him,  and  rose  with  Him,  and  live  with  Him,  and  in 
Him  are  seated  in  heavenly  places.  When  the  eye 
of  God  looks  on  them  they  are  found  in  Christ,  and 
there  is  no  condemnation  to  those  that  are  in  Him, 
and  they  are  righteous  in  His  righteousness,  and 
loved  with  the  love  which  rests  on  Him,  and  are  sons 
of  God  in  His  Sonship,  and  heirs  with  Him  of  His 
inheritance,  and  are  soon  to  be  glorified  with  Him  in 
His  glory. 

So  also  Christ  is  in  those  who  believe  ;  associating 
His  own  presence  with  their  whole  inward  and  out- 
ward life.     They  know  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  them, 


SIXTH  THURSDAY.  203 

except  they  be  reprobates.  They  live,  yet  not  they, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  them,  and  He  is  their  strength 
and  their  song.  This  idea  underlies  all  that  is  said, 
gives  the  point  of  view  from  which  every  subject  is 
regarded,  and  supplies  the  standard  of  character  and 
the  rules  of  conduct.  We  move  in  a  new  world  of 
thought,  and  are  raised  to  a  level  of  doctrine  which 
we  had  not  reached  before,  though  the  Gospels  had 
prepared  us  for  it,  and  the  Acts  had  led  us  towards  it. 
In  the  Gospels  we  have  stood  like  men  who  watch 
the  rising  of  some  great  edifice,  and  who  grow  famil- 
iar with  the  outlines  and  the  details  of  its  exterior 
aspect.  In  the  preaching  of  the  Acts  we  have  seen 
the  doors  thrown  open,  and  joined  the  men  who  flock 
into  it  as  their  refuge  and  their  home.  In  the  Epis- 
tles we  are  actually  within  it,  sheltered  by  its  roof, 
encompassed  by  its  walls ;  we  pass,  as  it  were,  from 
chamber  to  chamber,  beholding  the  extent  of  its  in- 
ternal arrangements  and  the  abundance  of  all  things 
provided  for  our  use.  We  are  here  "m  Christ 
Jesus."  The  presence  which  was  lately  before  our 
eyes,  and  drew  us  towards  itself,  now  absorbs  and 
wraps  us  round,  and  has  become  the  ground  on  which 
we  stand,  the  air  which  we  breathe,  the  element  in 
which  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being.  The 
Churches  are  "in  Christ;"  the  persons  are  "in 
Christ."     They  are   "found  in  Christ"  and  "pre- 


204        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

served  in  Christ,"  are  '*  rooted,  built  up,"  and  "  made 
perfect  in  Christ."  Their  ways  are  ways  that  be  in 
Christ ;  their  conversation  is  "  a  good  conversation  " 
in  Christ ;  their  faith,  hope,  love,  joy,  their  whole  life 
is  "  in  Christ."  They  think,  they  speak,  they  walk 
"in  Christ."  They  labor  and  suffer,  they  sorrow 
and  rejoice,  they  conquer  and  triumph  "in  the  Lord." 
They  receive  each  other  and  love  each  other  "  in  the 
Lord."  The  fundamental  relations,  the  primal  du- 
ties of  life,  have  been  drawn  within  the  same  circle. 
"  The  man  is  not  without  the  woman,  nor  the  woman 
without  the  man,  in  the  Lord."  Wives  submit  them- 
selves to  their  husbands  "  in  the  Lord ;  "  children 
obey  their  parents  "  in  the  Lord."  The  broadest 
distinctions  vanish  in  the  common  bond  of  this  all- 
embracing  relation.  "  As  many  as  have  been  bap- 
tized into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ ;  there  is  neither 
Greek  nor  Jew ;  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free ; 
there  is  neither  male  nor  female ;  they  are  all  one  in 
Christ  Jesus."  The  influence  of  it  extends  over  the 
whole  field  of  action,  and  men  "  do  all  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  giving  thanks  to  God  and  the  Fa- 
ther by  Him."  The  truth  which  they  hold  is  "  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus ;  "  the  will  by  which  they 
guide  themselves  is  "  the  will  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus 
concerning  them."  Finally,  this  character  of  exist- 
ence is  not  changed  by  that  which  changes  all  be- 


SIXTH  THURSDAY.  205 

sides.  Those  who  have  entered  on  it  depart,  but 
they  "  die  in  the  Lord,"  they  "  sleep  in  Jesus,"  they 
are  "  the  dead  in  Christ ;  "  and  "  when  He  shall  ap- 
pear," they  will  appear;  and  when  He  comes,  "  God 
shall  bring  them  with  Him,"  and  they  shall  "  reign 
in  hfe  by  one  —  Jesus  Christ." 

"  Of  Him  are  ye  in  Christ  Jesus."  That  is  not 
the  statement  of  a  doctrine,  but  the  summary  of  a 
life.  Surely  I  must  ask,  —  Is  it  a  life  which  I  am 
living  now  ?  I  glance  over  the  writings  of  the  Apos- 
tles, and  see  the  holy  and  beloved  name  shining  in 
every  part  of  them,  and  mingling  its  presence  with 
every  thought  and  feeling,  every  purpose  and  hope. 
I  see  an  ever  present  consciousness  of  being  in 
Christ,  and  a  habit  of  viewing  all  things  in  Him. 
Must  I  not  look  down  into  my  heart,  and  ask 
whether  my  own  inward  life  bears  this  character? 
Let  me  accept  nothing  in  exchange  for  this.  Men 
bid  me  live  in  duty  and  truth,  in  purity  and  love. 
They  do  well.  But  the  Gospel  does  better ;  calling 
me  to  live  in  Christ,  and  to  find  in  Him  the  enjoy- 
ment of  all  that  I  would  possess  and  the  realization 
of  all  that  I  would  become. 

Rest  of  the  weary, 

Joy  of  the  sad, 
Hope  of  the  dreary, 

Light  of  the  glad: 


206        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Home  of  tlie  stranger, 
Strength  to  the  end, 

Refuge  from  danger, 
Saviour  and  Friend ! 

Pillow,  where  lying 

Love  rests  its  head. 
Peace  of  the  dying, 

Life  of  the  dead: 
Path  of  the  lowly. 

Prize  at  the  end, 
Breath  of  the  holy, 

Saviour  and  Friend. 

When  my  feet  stumble 

I  '11  to  Thee  cry, 
Crown  of  the  humble, 

Cross  of  the  high: 
When  my  steps  wander, 

Over  me  bend, 
Truer  and  fonder, 

Saviour  and  Friend. 

Ever  confessing 

Thee,  I  will  raise 
Unto  Thee  blessing. 

Glory  and  praise: 
All  my  endeavor. 

World  without  end, 
Thine  to  be  ever. 

Saviour  and  Friend. 


SIXTH  THURSDAY.  207 

r\  GOD  who  hast  new  begotten  us  from  the  dead  by  the  Life 
and  Resurrection  of  Thy  Son,  grant  unto  us  that  we  may 
reckon  ourselves  dead  unto  sin  but  alive  unto  Thee  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  who  hath  quickened  us  when  we  were 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  and  brought  our  immortality  to 
light.  Mortify  and  kill  all  vices  in  us,  and  make  us  new  in  the 
new  creation  of  purity  and  holiness  and  love.  Take  from  us 
that  fleshly  mind  which  is  death,  and  increase  in  us  ever  more 
and  more  that  spiritual  life  which  is  hght  and  peace.  May  we 
live  in  this  world  as  if  we  were  dead  to  it,  it  being  no  more 
we  that  live,  but  Christ  that  liveth  in  us.  And  as  years  pass 
on  and  natural  death  comes  nearer  to  us,  may  we  have  a  con- 
tinually surer  hope  in  Him  who  hath  aboHshed  death  and  taken 
the  victory  from  the  grave  —  even  the  same  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.     Amen. 


208        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^iXtt)  jfritiat 


To  do  good  and  to  distribute  forget  not,  for  with  such  sacri- 
Jices  God  is  well  pleased. 

The  silver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts. 

Ye  have  robbed  me.  But  ye  say  wherein  have  we  robbed 
Thee  ?     In  tithes  and  offerings. 

A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you,  that  ye  love  one  an- 
other; as  I  have  loved  you,  that  ye  also  love  one  another.  By 
this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples. 

Utterly  in  vain  is  it  that  we  keep  with  sober 
manners  and  outward  veneration  the  blessed  Time 
which  is  now  bearing  us  on  so  near  the  Cross,  if  the 
spirit  of  sacrifice  is  not  in  us.  And  what  is  sacri- 
fice? 

While  every  interest  of  human  life,  every  faculty 
of  mind  and  body,  and  every  sphere  of  action,  gives 
some  opportunity  for  the  spirit  of  sacrifice,  its  most 
obvious  form  is  in  gifts  of  money,  the  current  repre- 
sentative of  material  value.  Perhaps  this  is  espe- 
cially true  of  a  community  like  ours,  commercial  in 


SIXTH   FRIDAY.  209 

its  pursuits,  apt  to  turn  almost  everything  into 
money,  or  to  reckon  it  by  that  standard,  exhibiting 
the  contrasts  of  fortune  by  sharp  lines,  and  in  a 
thousand  ways  drawing  back  the  minds  of  men  to 
this  kind  of  calculation.  No  doubt  some  persons 
are  so  constituted,  or  so  situated,  that  it  would  be  a 
harder  cross  for  them  to  give  other  things,  as  time, 
or  attention,  or  sympathy,  or  house-room,  to  Christ's 
missions,  or  to  God's  poor,  than  a  modicum  of  their 
property.  But  of  the  great  majority  in  these  days, 
and  hereabouts,  it  may  be  safely  said,  as  of  the 
young  man  in  the  New  Testament,  that  if  they  can 
resist  the  common  passion  for  gain,  and  cheerfully 
do  their  whole  duty  in  giving  up  their  money  for 
the  Gospel's  sake,  they  have  gone  a  great  way  to- 
wards the  grand  Christian  attainment  of  overcoming 
the  world,  and  are  not  far  from  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  and  of  Christ. 

If  we  would  be  as  He  is  in  this  world,  if  we 
would  follow  His  steps  as  our  loving  Master,  if  we 
would,  not  among  men  only  but  before  His  Father 
and  the  Holy  Angels,  be  acknowledged  as  His  dis- 
ciples, if  we  would  receive  a  disciple's  reward,  if 
we  would  hear  the  gracious  words,  "  For  as  much 
as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these 
my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me,"  there  is 
but   one   way,  one   straight   narrow  way;  the  way 

14 


210        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

of  self-denying  charity.  Gifts,  which  are  given  out 
of  our  abundance,  may  gain  us  credit  among  men, 
they  may  show  a  kindly  spirit,  such  as  the  Jews 
were  bid  to  cherish,  but  they  are  not  tokens  of 
Christian  love.  Alas,  would  that  we  were  not  put 
to  shame  by  the  very  Jews,  would  that  our  right- 
eousness came  up  even  to  theirs,  and  that  we  pro- 
vided for  our  poor  as  they  even  now  do  for  theirs ! 
would  that  we,  who  are  God's  people,  came  up  to 
them,  who  for  the  time  are  "  not  His  people  !  "  Of 
old  they  bestowed  year  by  year  one  tenth  of  their 
substance  on  the  poor,  beyond  the  one  tenth  which 
they  gave  to  God's  Priests ;  yearly  they  retained 
but  four  fifths  for  themselves  ;  one  fifth  of  the  in- 
crease wherewith  God  had  blessed  them,  they  gave 
to  Him  in  His  ministers  and  His  poor;  and  each 
third  year,  they  gave  a  third  tenth  to  God. 

And  shall  we  then,  on  whom  the  very  name  of 
the  Son  of  God  has  been  called,  be  content  with  a 
Jewish  charity?  shall  we,  on  whom  the  light  and 
love  of  the  Gospel  have  been  poured,  fall  short  of 
the  measures  of  the  Law  ?  have  we  no  faith,  no  eyes 
to  see,  no  hearts  to  look  for,  heavenly  treasures  ? 
shall  we  always  be  so  fixed  on  the  things  of  this 
passing  world,  as  to  have  no  sense  left  for  the  things 
of  eternity  ?  shall  we,  year  by  year,  celebrate  the 
fasts  and  festivals  of  the  self-denying  love  of  our 


SIXTH  FRIDAY.  211 

Master  and  only  Saviour  ;  year  by  year,  accompany 
Him  in  outward  gesture  from  the  manger  whither 
He  descended  from  the  highest  Heavens  to  the  Cross 
whence  He  ascended  thither  again,  and  year  by  year 
hear  Him  in  word  and  deed  bid  us  love  these  our 
and  His  brethren  as  He  has  loved  us  and  yet  go  on, 
year  by  year,  loving  —  not  ourselves,  but  —  the  per- 
ishable comforts,  luxuries,  ease,  of  our  perishing 
frames,  and  neglecting  those  whom  He  has  com- 
mitted to  our  love,  until  He  come  again  and  require 
of  us  an  account  of  our  stewardship,  and  of  oar 
deeds  of  love  to  those,  in  whom  He  bids  us  show  our 
love  to  Him?  Shall  we  go  on  speaking  of  His 
Atoning  Sacrifice,  but  ourselves  sacrifice  nothing ; 
of  His  poverty  for  us,  but  have  ourselves  no  thought 
except  for  this  world's  riches ;  of  His  humiliation 
for  us,  but  ourselves  seek  only  how  to  exalt  ourselves 
and  our  families  in  this  world ;  of  His  abandoning 
all  His  unspeakable  glory,  and  ourselves  seek  our 
glory  and  credit  in  this  passing  scene ;  of  His  hav- 
ing "  emptied  Himself "  of  His  inherent  Majesty, 
and  ourselves  remain  "  full  "  ?  Not  in  words  but  in 
deeds  did  He  love  us,  when  He  came  down  amid 
our  sin  and  shame  and  sufferings,  to  be  hated, 
scorned,  crucified,  to  bear  our  sins ;  not  in  words  but 
in  deed  do  we  hope  that  He  will  show  His  love,  in 
that  way  in  which  if  He  compassioneth  us  not  with 


212        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

His  exceeding  love,  we  are  undone  forever ;  not  in 
words  then,  but  in  deeds  must  be  the  love  which  we 
meanwhile  show  to  Him  in  His  poor ;  learning, 
slowly  it  may  be,  but  day  by  day,  to  deny  ourselves 
our  own  desires,  to  forego  things  in  which  we  should 
have  pleasure,  and  what  tempts  the  eyes,  the  taste, 
the  senses  ;  looking  not  at  what  we  can  afford  to 
spend  upon  self,  but  what  we  may  lawfully  deny 
self;  not  what  additional  comforts  we  may  keep 
around  us,  but  what  indulgences  which  we  have  we 
may  part  with,  that  we  may  give  the  more  unto 
Him ;  looking  in  detail  into  our  expenses,  in  order 
warily  to  cut  off  superfluities  ;  seeking  how  our  hab- 
its may  become  more  simple  ;  parting  with  luxuries 
which  perish  in  the  using,  and  which  soon  must 
part  with  us,  in  order  to  win  the  love  of  God ; 
parting  with  what  we  now  call  comforts,  to  win  the 
only  assured  comfort,  peace  with  God  and  joy  in 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  earnest  of  acceptance  and  of 
everlasting  rewards,  — parting  with  earth  to  win 
heaven ;  with  things  temporal  for  things  eternal, 
with  fading  enjoyments  for  everlasting  glory  ;  with 
things  without  us,  that  Christ  (as  He  has  promised 
to  those  who  love)  may  make  His  abode  in  us. 

Heaven's  King 
Doth  bid  thee  to  a  marriage  feast  each  day. 


SIXTH  FRIDAY.  213 

His  banquet  is  full  dressed. 

He  asks  thee  for  His  guest. 

Nor  count  it  a  light  thing 

If  thou  refuse  or  if  thou  dost  obey. 

If  thou  shouldst  go  thy  way, 

And  for  earth's  farm  and  merchandise 

His  great  command  despise, 

Beware  lest  in  His  royal  wrath  He  swear 

That  thou  shalt  ne'er  partake  its  sacred  fare 

And  that  He  seek  for  guests  who  will  not  say 

Him  "Nay." 
The  spirit  of  self-sacrifice 
Stays  not  to  count  its  price. 
Christ  did  not  of  His  mere  abundance  cast 
Into  the  empty  treasury  of  man's  store. 

The  First  and  Last 
Gave  until  even  He  could  give  no  more,  — 

His  very  living 

Such  was  Christ's  Giving. 


/~\  THOU  who  didst  stretch  out  Thine  hands  on  the  Cross  in 
sacrifice  for  us,  all  unworthy,  greater  love  can  none  show 
than  Thou  hast  shown.  Thou  didst  lay  aside  the  glory  of 
Heaven  for  the  glory  of  Calvary.  Thou  who  wert  rich  with 
infinite  treasures  didst  become  poor,  with  no  place  to  lay  Thine 
Head.  Thou  didst  bear  weariness  and  pain  and  hunger,  and 
gavest  Thy  sacred  body  to  the  smiters  for  our  sake.  Oh  forgive 
us,  that,  knowing  this  Thy  love,  we  seek  every  one  his  own, 
and  keep  back  from  Thee  what  is  Thine,  and  give  only  a  little 
out  of  our  comfort  for  Thy  poor  and  Thy  Church,  and  bestow 
that  which  we  shall  not  miss.     Blessed  Jesus,  grant  us  more 


214        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

likeness  to  Thee,  more  love  such  as  Thine,  that  we  may  sacri- 
fice our  possessions  and  comforts  to  others  for  Thy  sake,  and 
count  it  better  to  give  than  to  receive.  O  Thou  loving  High 
Priest,  who  hast  passed  into  the  heavens  within  the  veil,  keep 
us  with  Thy  mighty  intercessions,  that  we  may  stand  accepted 
in  the  Day  of  Thy  coming  again,  who  livest  and  reignest  with 
the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


SATUEDAY  BEFOKE  PALM-SUNDAY.       216 


^aturDa^  before  ^alni'^untia^. 


If  any  man  serve  Me,  let  him  follow  Me;  and  where  I  am, 
there  shall  also  My  servant  be.  If  any  man  serve  Me,  him  will 
My  Father  honor. 

Now  is  my  soul  troubled ;  and  what  shall  I  say  ?  Father,  Save 
me  from  this  hour  ?  But  for  this  cause  came  I  unto  this  hour. 
Father,  glorify  Thy  name. 

Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest. 

Forasmuch  as  the  children  are  partakers  of  flesh  and  blood, 
He  also  Himself  likewise  took  part  of  the  same. 

The  strength  of  all  supporting  bodies,  or  struct- 
ures under  strain,  is  proved  at  their  weakest  point. 
Failing  there  they  are  worthless.  The  power  of  the 
personal  Life  of  Christ  over  man  is  proved  by  its 
making  man  strong  at  just  the  weakest  points  in 
his  experience.  They  are  such  as  discouragement, 
suffering,  the  sense  of  sin,  and  the  prospect  of  the 
ends.  Each  has  its  resorts  and  resources,  like  diver- 
sions, anodynes,  philosophy.  When  these  have  all 
done  their  best,  the  Son  of  Man,  never  resentful  at 
past  neglect  or  repelled   by  disgust   at  the  foolish 


216        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

experiments  of  unbelief,  brings  the  singular  forces  of 
His  own  Mediatorship,  —  the  condescension  of  His 
divinity  and  the  glorious  splendor  and  triumphs  of 
His  humanity,  —  to  conquer  where  the  world  has 
failed. 

The  daily  stress  of  care  has  tired  you  out.  The 
slowness  of  those  steps  by  which  you  are  following 
after  your  blessed  Master,  —  slow  in  spite  of  your 
best  efforts,  —  has  disheartened  you.  But  think. 
You  have  not  to  overtake  your  Lord,  in  order  to 
be  sure  of  His  comfort  and  His  blessing.  He  is  not 
hurrying  away  from  you.  He  has  come  to  you. 
All  the  way  from  heaven,  —  all  the  way  down  to 
our  poor,  miserable  mortality  He  has  come,  that  He 
might  seek  after  us,  and  find  us,  and  stand  with  us 
just  where  we  are,  and  love  us  here,  —  if  only  our 
vi^illing  hearts  will  let  Him.  Think  what  He  left 
behind.  Think  what  He  gave  up.  Would  He 
have  been  likely  to  do  and  to  give  all  that  if  He  did 
not  love  you ;  if  He  did  not  mean  to  have  you  for 
His  own  ?  After  doing  and  enduring  so  much,  will 
He  push  any  follower  from  Him  impatiently  ?  "  For 
this  cause  came  I  unto  this  hour." 

Think  again.  It  would  be  a  great  sacrifice  for  you 
to  leave  your  home,  your  comforts,  and  your  friends, 
and  go  down  into  some  cabin  of  vile  and  filthy  creat- 
ures, where  every  taste  would  be  offended  and  every 


SATURDAY   BEFORE  PALM-SUNDAY.  21T 

sense  would  be  disgusted,  to  stay  there  performing 
menial  offices,  the  wretched  and  cruel  inmates  hating 
and  reviling  you  while  you  did  them.  That  was  what 
Jesus  did.  The  way  from  the  glory,  purity,  blessed- 
ness, that  He  had  with  the  Father,  down  to  us  and 
our  selfish,  sinful  ways,  was  farther  than  from  our 
doors  to  any  hovel  of  uncleanliness  or  haunt  of 
heathenism  in  the  world.  We  are  all  farther  from 
His  Spirit  than  any  of  these  fellow-sinners  from 
ours.  The  difference  never  can  be  so  great  be- 
tween one  degree  of  sin  and  another  as  it  is  between 
perfect,  spotless  sinlessness  and  lives  like  ours.  But 
further  than  this !  Christ  not  only  did  this  once : 
He  is  doing  it  still.  He  is  still  dwelling  with  us ; 
still  forbearing,  enduring,  and  patient  with  us.  Oh 
the  depth  of  the  condescension,  the  riches  of  that 
goodness,  the  love  that  passeth  knowledge  I 

As  Christ  the  Saviour  is  really  near  at  hand  with 
us,  so  He  is  still  sensitive  to  our  treatment  of  Him, 
still  suffers  from  our  faithlessness,  and  still  rejoices  in 
our  affection.  Every  new  sin  we  commit  adds  to  our 
Saviour's  Cross  some  new  sharpness  and  heaviness. 
We  mistake  if,  according  to  the  superficial  fashion 
and  feeble  faith  of  our  time,  we  imagine  all  the  bad 
consequences  of  that  sin  are  limited  to  ourselves, 
and  inflict  no  hurt  save  on  our  own  "  consciousness  " 
or  "progress."     It  drives  deeper  the  nails  of  the  liv- 


218  NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

ing  Redeemer's  torture.  It  sets  fresh  thorns  into  the 
mock-crown  that  made  His  temples  bleed.  It  puts 
strength  to  the  spear  that  pierced  His  side.  Be- 
cause it  was  not  the  wood,  of  cross  or  thorn,  it  was 
not  the  iron,  of  nail  or  spear,  that  entered  into  His 
soul  and  made  up  the  real  agony  of  His  crucifix- 
ion. These  were  only  the  material  instruments  that 
touched  and  tore  the  flesh.  The  flesh  itself  was  only 
the  visible  vestiture  and  outer  sign  of  the  Man  Christ 
Jesus,  who  was  crucified  for  us. 

Believe  it,  whoever  hewed  the  cross,  or  drove  the 
nails,  or  platted  the  thorns,  or  pierced  the  side,  —  it 
is  indifference,  it  is  ingratitude,  it  is  unbelief,  it  is 
selfishness,  it  is  hard,  cold,  narrow  worldliness,  every- 
where, always,  here,  now,  yours,  which  crucifies  the 
Lord  of  Glory,  and  is  the  agency  of  His  crucifixion. 
Were  these  confined,  do  you  think,  to  a  few  wicked 
rulers,  and  a  few  reckless  soldiers,  and  a  few  hating 
hypocrites,  in  a  Roman  province,  in  Caesar's  time? 
No  more  than  those  Galileans  whose  blood  Pilate 
mingled  with  their  sacrifices  were  sinners  above  all 
the  Galileans. 

Turn  to  the  other  and  happier  part  of  the  same 
solemn  intimacy  between  the  suffering  Redeemer  and 
His  disciple.  Every  struggle  of  self-sacrifice  for  His 
sake  delights  Him,  and  lightens  the  gloom  that  dark- 
ens  about  His  Calvary,     There  is  an  old  German 


SATURDAY   BEFORE  PALM-SUNDAY.  219 

legend  of  the  bird  called  "  the  cross-bill,"  that  it  flew 
to  Christ's  cross,  at  the  hour  of  His  crucifixion,  and 
tried  to  draw  out  the  nails  that  fastened  Him  to  the 
tree : 

**  Stained  with  blood,  and  never  tiring, 
With  its  beak  it  doth  not  cease: 
From  the  Cross  't  would  tear  the  Saviour, 
Its  Creator's  Son  release:  " 

and  the  story  runs  that  as  a  benediction  for  this  sym- 
pathy, the  Lord  promised  the  earnest  creature  that 
the  blood  drops  which  then  sprinkled  its  plumage 
should  stay,  and  color  all  its  kind  with  that  holy 
sign,  evermore.  Like  many  other  Christian  imagi- 
nations, the  fable  has  a  practical  and  a  scriptural 
meaning.  The  service  and  self-denial  of  His  follow- 
ers, rendered  to  the  Saviour  for  His  own  sake,  deep- 
ens in  them  the  marks  and  the  blessing  of  His  sacri- 
fice, and  makes  its  benefit  permanent.  Whatever 
you  do  or  suffer  for  His  honor,  whether  you  come 
by  faith,  humbly  praying  to  see  Jesus,  and  sit  at  His 
feet,  or  whether  you  take  up  the  cross,  and  work  and 
give  and  endure  hardship  as  a  good  soldier  in  His 
cause.  He  sets  a  sign  of  living  glory  in  your  soul,  bet- 
ter than  any  crown.  "  Him  will  my  Father  honor." 
You  can  afford  to  be  weary  many  nights,  and  to 
labor  at  hard  drudgeries  many  days,  for  night  and 
day  the  Son  of  Man  tells  you  by  His  own  blessed 


220        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

lips,  of  "  the  love  which  passeth  knowledge,"  — and 
that,  being  "  rooted  and  grounded  "  in  it,  you  may 
"  comprehend,  with  all  saints,  what  is  the  breadth, 
and  length,  and  depth,  and  height !  " 

Lord,  who  in  pain  and  weariness 

Thy  path  of  sorrow  here  didst  tread; 
Who,  scorned  of  man,  and  shelterless, 
Couldst  find  no  place  to  lay  Thy  Head; 
Grant  Thy  shelter,  Jesu  meek, 
To  Thy  poor  who  refuge  seek. 

Lord,  who  through  long  and  saddened  years, 

Didst  toil  for  suffering  mankind; 
Didst  bind  their  wounds,  didst  calm  their  fears, 
Didst  cure  the  sick,  the  halt,  the  blind; 
Grant  Thy  healing,  Jesu  blest, 
To  the  faint,  who  long  for  rest. 

Lord,  who  didst  die  upon  the  Rood, 

That  we  might  ever  die  to  sin, 
Who  givest  us  ThyseK  as  Food, 
To  make  us  strong  the  goal  to  win; 
Grant  Thy  patience,  Jesu  dear, 
Unto  all  who  suffer  here. 

Lord,  who  from  burial  didst  arise, 

That  we  might  rise  to  life  in  Thee, 
And  hence  ascended  to  the  skies 
Dost  rule  all  things  in  majesty; 
Grant  Thy  glory,  Jesu  pure, 
To  the  faithful  who  endure. 


SATURDAY  BEFORE  PALM-SUNDAY.  221 

/~\  MOST  gracious  Lord,  our  Saviour,  -who  to  do  away  our 
offenses  didst  not  only  bear  cruel  stripes  and  shameful 
insults  and  mockings,  and  a  painful  crown  of  thorns,  but  wast 
willing  to  be  fastened  with  nails  to  the  Cross  like  a  thief,  we 
entreat  Thee  by  these  Thy  sufferings  that  Thou  wouldst  hear 
us,  Thy  weak  and  erring  followers;  spare  us  when  we  confess 
our  sins ;  show  us  Thy  hands  and  Thy  feet  when  we  are  doubt- 
ing; and  make  Thy  wonderful  condescension  to  our  infirmities 
to  be  our  lifting  up  into  Thine  eternal  salvation  and  blessed- 
ness, that  we  may  praise  and  glorify  Thee  with  the  Father  and 
the  Holy  Ghost,  world  without  end.    Amen. 


222       NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^aittt'^ttnuar 


We  see  Jesus  who  was  made  a  little  lower  than  the  angels  for 
the  suffering  of  death  crowned  with  glory  and  honor;  that  He 
by  the  grace  of  God  should  taste  death  for  every  man.  For 
Doth  He  that  sanctifieth,  and  they  who  are  sanctified,  are  all  of 
one;  for  which  cause  He  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren, 
saying,  I  will  declare  Thy  name  unto  my  brethren,  in  the 
midst  of  the  Church  will  I  sing  praise  unto  Thee.  Wherefore 
in  all  things  it  behoved  Him  to  be  made  like  unto  His  brethren ; 
that  He  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  High  Priest  in  things 
pertaining  to  God,  to  make  reconciliation  for  the  sins  of  the 
people. 

On  the  next  day  much  people  that  were  come  to  the  Feast, 
when  they  heard  that  Jesus  was  coming  to  Jerusalem,  took 
branches  of  palm-trees  and  went  forth  to  meet  Him. 

And  many  spread  their  garments  in  the  way;  and  others  cut 
down  branches  off  the  trees  and  strewed  them  in  the  way. 

The  beginning  of  Holy  Week  finds  the  Sav- 
iour in  the  family  of  His  friends,  Mary  and  Martha 
and  Lazarus.  He  is  man,  and  human  affection  must 
both  deepen  and  soften  the  pain  of  the  coming  sep- 
aration.    From  this  moment,  by  the  guidance  of  the 


PALM-SUNDAY.  223 

Evangelists,  we  are  able  to  follow  the  Great  Sufferer 
on,  day  by  day,  and  step  by  step,  to  the  hour  of  His 
passion  and  of  the  world's  redemption,  when  we 
hear  Him  cry,  "  It  is  finished,"  on  the  Cross.  Hav- 
ing traveled  southward  towards  the  Holy  City,  from 
the  retired  spot  on  the  borders  of  Samaria  where  He 
had  spent  several  days  in  solitary  preparation  for  the 
dreadful  commotions  and  agonies  of  His  public  trial 
and  crucifixion,  —  passing  along  the  wild  and  dan- 
gerous road  between  the  plains  of  Jericho  and  the 
uplands  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem,  —  that 
road  where  the  scene  of  the  parable  of  the  good 
Samaritan  was  laid,  with  its  eternal  lesson  of  Chris- 
tian charity,  —  He  seems  to  have  come,  late  on  Fri- 
day evening,  to  the  village  of  Bethany,  lying  three 
or  four  miles  east  of  the  capital,  —  with  the  Mount 
of  Olives  between  them,  —  and  then  to  have  entered 
that  ''highly-favored  household,"  of  which  he  had 
called  back  one  member  from  death  to  life,  only  a  few 
weeks  before.  There,  in  the  evening,  Simon  makes  a 
Feast  for  this  Divine  Guest,  knowing  the  human  but 
not  the  Divine  Guest  whom  he  entertains.  There, 
Lazarus,  a  living  witness  of  His  resurrection  power, 
sits  with  the  company,  his  mysterious  experience  of 
the  grave  hidden  in  his  heart.  There  Martha,  with 
characteristic  activity  and  anxiety,  serves  at  the 
table.     There  one  of  the   Marys,  with  lavish  and 


224        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

uncalculating  devotion  anoints  her  Lord's  body  for 
its  burying,  and  gains  her  everlasting  memorial 
"  wheresoever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached."  It 
needs  no  very  fertile  imagination  to  fill  out  some 
solemn  and  touching  picture  of  that  supper,  —  the 
happy  group,  yet,  with  august  apprehensions  shadow- 
ing their  festivity,  the  tender  communion,  the  thank- 
ful remembrance  of  mercies  and  miracles  past,  the 
mutual  pledges  of  eternal  fidelity,  and  then  the  part- 
ing for  the  night's  rest ;  He  who  sleeps  there  in 
mortal  slumber  the  Living  and  Eternal  Rest  of  the 
weary  world  !  The  next  morning  He  took  up  His 
sorrowful  journey  again,  and  moved  slowly  towards 
the  Temple.  As  the  Passover,  with  its  sacrifices, 
was  just  at  hand,  companies  of  pilgrims,  driving 
sheep  for  the  altar,  would  be  seen  in  the  highways, 
all  gathering  up  from  the  four  quarters,  to  the  centre 
of  the  Nation's  Faith.  Among  them  goes  the  Lamb 
of  God,  —  the  one  sacrifice,  —  final,  perfect,  and  suf- 
ficient, whom  these  typical  altars  of  thousands  of 
years  had  heralded  with  their  banners  of  smoke  and 
flame.  The  day  to  see  that  marvelous  fulfilled 
Scripture,  that  the  Lamb  should  he  slain  in  the  full- 
ness of  ages  and  yet  slain  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  is,  at  last,  close  by  ;  "  the  hour  "  of  which 
He  so  often  spoke,  as  if  all  reckonings  of  days,  in 
the  knowledge  of  history,  ran  to  and  from  that  cen- 


PALM-SUNDAY.  225 

tral  point  of  time.  But  then  He  is  not  only  Sacri- 
fice and  Priest ;  not  only  Prophet  and  Fulfillment ; 
but  another  of  His  comprehensive  characters  is  King- 
ship. So,  in  token  of  that  royal  office  whereby  He 
is  to  reign  forever,  He  must  enter  the  city  of  His 
sacrifice  with  kingly  honors,  in  meekness,  to  die,  yet 
in  majesty,  to  triumph.  The  beast  to  bear  him  is 
brought.  The  crowd  is  multiplied.  Every  hand 
snatches  a  green  palm-branch  from  the  trees  by  the 
wayside  and  waves  it,  or  casts  it  at  the  conqueror's 
feet.  Suddenly,  as  they  rise  to  the  hill-top  where 
the  city  in  its  historic  glory  breaks  on  their  sight, 
the  familiar  words  of  ancient  prophecy  come  to  pass: 
"  Tell  ye  the  daughter  of  Zion,  Behold  thy  King 
cometh."  At  first  a  few  tongues  raise  together  a 
strain  of  triumphal  welcome  out  of  one  of  the 
Psalms,  sung  once  in  prediction  of  the  Messiah  to 
David's  harp,  and  again  by  angels,  over  Bethlehem, 
David's  City,  at  His  birth.  Immediately,  "  a  thou- 
sand voices  before  and  a  thousand  voices  behind, 
rising  up  to  Heaven  with  mingled  harmonies  of  ac- 
clamation, cry  together,  saying,  "  Hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David;  Blessed  is  He  that  cometh  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  Thus  entering  Jerusalem,  and 
yet  weeping  human  tears  as  he  enters,  at  the  thought 
of  its  impending  overthrow,  Christ  goes  directly  to 
the  Temple.      "  And  when  He  had   looked  round 

15 


226        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

about  upon  all  things,"  writes  the  second  evangelist 
with  impressive  simplicity,  "  and  now  the  eventide 
was  come,  He  went  out  (again)  unto  Bethany,  with 
the  twelve."  And  so,  in  quiet  contrast  with  the 
morning  procession  and  pageant,  the  day  closed. 
The  living  truth  and  consistency  of  all  inspired 
Scripture  have  had  another  sublime  illustration  :  and 
we  are  brought  one  day's  journey  nearer  to  Calvary. 

The  first  great  thought  that  now  comes  to  fill  our 
souls,  and  to  shut  out  for  the  moment,  —  if  not  for 
all  this  Passion-week,  —  every  thought  besides,  is 
this,  that  Christ  is  a  Sufferer,  —  a  Sufferer  before  us, 
a  Sufferer  with  us,  a  Sufferer  for  us.  At  Bethany 
"  Jesus  wept."  Four  days  hence  He  comes  to  Geth- 
semane,  and  the  fifth  to  the  Cross.  He  must  gain 
the  whole  world's  faith,  to  save  it ;  He  must  lay 
hold  of  the  widest  possible  range  of  human  sympa- 
thies ;  and  to  that  end  He  becomes  a  Sufferer.  Not 
that  He,  or  His  religion,  ministers  to  no  states  or 
seasons  but  those  that  are  painful.  Something  in 
Him  touches  everything  in  us. 

All  our  humanity,  with  all  its  possible  moods  and 
conditions  is  somehow  included,  and  mastered,  and 
interpreted,  by  Him.  He  goes  with  us  in  our  rec- 
reation as  well  as  in  the  funeral  procession ;  He  sits 
in  the  full  circle  of  health  at  festivals,  as  well  as 
with  the  mourner  by  the  new  made  grave,  or  amidst 


PALM-SUNDAY.  227 

the  fragments  of  ruined  plans ;  He  comes  to  Beth- 
any when  the  three  there  are  well,  not  only  when 
Lazarus  is  dead.  All  the  rooms  of  our  houses  are 
for  Him,  to  come  in  and  abide,  as  well  as  the  cham- 
bers of  sickness  or  of  the  laying  out  of  the  dead. 
This  indeed  is  a  characteristic  trait  that  distinguishes 
the  Christian  Faith  from  every  religious  pretension 
that  was  ever  set  up.  It  is  not  one-sided,  as  being 
all  for  melancholy,  or  all  for  mirth,  —  not  stoical  or 
epicurean.  It  has  as  many  sides  as  our  life  has,  goes 
with  us  wherever  we  can  go,  and  only  asks  that  it 
may  consecrate  everything  with  its  blessing.  The 
Saviour  sighs  for  us,  that  we  may  not  sigh  forever. 
He  weeps  with  us,  and  bids  us  weep  with  each  other, 
that  even  here  we  may  be  as  though  we  wept  not. 
He  rejoices  with  us,  so  that,  gaining  our  hearts.  He 
may  give  them  joys  that  are  eternal. 

But  now,  this  comprehensive  glory  being  claimed 
for  our  Gospel,  we  shall  all  agree  that  Jesus  takes 
the  ground  of  the  largest  and  strongest  influence  for 
men,  when  He  appears  in  sympathy  with  their 
troubles.  Because  our  sharpest  wants  spring  from 
some  kind  of  trial,  —  in  conscience,  or  heart,  or 
body,  —  He  meets  us  there  with  the  special  ministry 
of  His  mediation.  It  is  when,  looking  up  to  heaven, 
with  a  miserable  invalid  before  Him,  He  sighs ;  it 
is  when,  coming  to  the  sepulchre  of  Lazarus  with 


228        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

His  bereaved  friends  about  Him,  He  weeps;  it  is 
when  He  cries  out  with  His  own  anguish  at  Geth- 
semane  and  the  Cross,  that  He  draws  nearest,  gives 
us  most  of  Himself^  and  makes  us  feel  how  really  one 
with  us,  this  Divine  Redeemer  is.  Imagine  for  a 
moment  a  pretended  Christ  who  demanded  our 
faith  chiefly  on  the  score  of  His  interest  in  our  hap- 
pier moments :  how  the  burdened  heart  of  the  world, 
—  and  even  of  the  happiest  hearts  in  it,  —  would 
turn  from  Him,  disappointed !  If  He  did  not  sigh 
for  us,  we  should  still  have  to  sigh  for  each  other, 
and  then  to  turn  and  sigh  still  for  a  Saviour  that 
would  sigh  for  us,  —  only  in  Him  acknowledging  the 
Master  of  our  life  and  of  our  death. 

In  principle,  this  seems  to  be  illustrated  in  the 
trust  we  put  in  any  noble,  masterly  spirit.  Take 
some  personal  grief  ;  or  take  the  grand  peril  and 
ordeal  of  a  nation  struggling  for  its  liberties :  the 
leader  or  the  comforter  who  hopes  there  to  centre 
in  himself  the  complete  confidence  of  his  fellows 
must  be  seen  to  comprehend,  and  to  feel,  all  the 
human  agony,  to  the  bottom  of  it.  Without  this 
deep  yet  simple  secret,  he  can  never  command  the 
souls  of  the  people.  So  it  is,  precisely,  with  the 
spiritual  Lordship  of  Christ.  "  For  it  became  Him, 
for  whom  are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto 
glory,  to  make  the  captain  of  their  salvation  perfect 


PALM-SUNDAY.  229 

through  sufferings."  ''For^^^  in  that  way,  through 
the  common  sympathy  of  suffering,  "  both  he  that 
sanctifieth,  and  they  who  are  sanctified,  are  all 
of  one." 

Yes,  "  of  one  ;  "  because  men  are  really  more  at 
one  in  what  they  suffer  than  in  what  they  enjoy : 
partly  because  they  are  more  conscious  of  their 
mutual  dependence  then,  and  so  are  cast  more 
vitally,  and  more  openly,  together ;  partly  because 
pain  is  by  its  nature  more  intense,  more  thirsty, 
more  exacting,  than  pleasure.  It  is  not  when  some 
piece  of  fine  fortune  befalls  a  family  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, but  when  death  desolates  their  dwelling, 
or  calamity  darkens  it,  that  they  find  out  what  gen- 
erous treasures  of  good-will  have  been  waiting  for 
them  in  houses  close  by,  and  their  neighbors  draw 
near  to  them  with  reverential  compassion.  It  is 
not  a  period  of  public  prosperity  that  kindles  the 
patriotism  of  a  people,  and  binds  them  together  in 
the  unity  of  one  common  purpose  :  it  is  danger  and 
war. 

You  scarcely  see  surprise  in  the  gayest  faces  when 
you  speak,  if  you  speak  simply  and  earnestly,  of 
the  sore  struggle  within,  between  the  old  man  and 
the  new,  of  tears  or  even  of  heart-breakings,  —  be- 
cause, even  in  those  bright  lives,  though  the  reality 
of  affliction  has  not  been  felt,  the  shadow  of  it  has 


230        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

been  seen  across  the  broad  field  of  sunsliine.  None 
would  be  quicker  than  they  to  confess  the  insuflS- 
ciency  of  a  Gospel  which  should  provide  only  for 
hours  of  mirth  or  comfort.  However  fortunate  your 
own  lot  at  present,  you  would  not  trust  yourself,  for 
salvation,  to  any  but  a  man  of  sorrows,  acquainted 
with  grief.  When  we  imagine  a  world  in  which 
"  pleasures  banish  pain,"  we  are  thinking  of  a  world 
in  which  purity  would  banish  sin.  But  this  is  not 
the  real  world  which  you  and  I  are  living  in. 

Accordingly,  we  find  in  the  Son  of  Man  signs  of 
that  intense  sympathy  with  others'  sorrow  which  is 
a  kind  of  willing  sorrow  in  itself.  This  fact  lies 
close  to  the  great  central  doctrine  of  our  religion, 
in  the  incarnation,  sacrifice,  and  atonement  of  our 
Lord,  no  matter  how  often  a  blind  and  stumbling 
theology  has  said  otherwise :  the  redemption  in 
Christ,  though  His  death  is  an  outward  and  histor- 
ical fact,  is  not  a  cool  transaction,  wrought  out  at  a 
distance  from  us,  outside  of  us,  and  then  mechan- 
ically brought  over  and  paid  down  for  us :  oh,  not 
this !  Christ  redeems  us,  by  dying,  and  in  that 
death  entering,  with  all  the  powers  of  His  sacri- 
fice, and  all  the  spirit  of  His  mercy,  and  all  the  ten- 
derness of  His  Cross,  into  the  living  seats  of  affec- 
tion and  trust  within  us.     We  know  His  crucifixion 


PALM-SUNDAY.  231 

only  as  we  are  crucified  with  Him.  We  are  re- 
deemed by  Him,  only  as  we  are  ever  ready,  iii  the 
spirit  of  self-denial,  to  make  up,  in  personal  sacrifice, 
that  which  is  behind  of  His  sufferings.  We  have 
to  be  bearing  about,  daily,  the  dying  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  might  be  mani- 
fested in  these  mortal  bodies. 

I  lifted  up  my  harp,  one  day, 

And  hasted  forth  to  trace  the  great  King's  way, 

By  palms  of  victory  across  it  lying. 

I  hurried  on,  regardless  of  a  Child 

That  passed  me  by, 

With  wondrous  eye. 
Long  did  I  search,  until  at  length 
I  had  exhausted  all  my  feeble  strength, 
Until  one  day  I  did  espy 

Branches  of  palm,  but  withered  all  and  dying. 
Feeling  that  He  in  triumph  here  had  passed, 
I  felt  that  I  should  find  the  King  at  last; 
When  lo!  an  angel  met  me.     "  Wouldst  thou  see 
Thy  King?  "     He  led  me  out  to  Calvary, 
And  there  I  found  Him  hanging  on  a  tree; 
And  in  that  Man  of  pain 
I  knew  the  Child  of  heavenly  look  again. 
Trembling,  I  asked  the  sorrowing  angel,  "  Why?  " 
He  told  me  that  his  Lord  had  come  to  die, 
And  that  His  death  would  be 
Eternal  life  to  me  and  such  as  me. 


232        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

f\  LORD  Jesus  Christ,  who  for  the  salvation  of  the  world 
wast  willing  as  at  this  time,  to  bear  patiently  sorrows  and 
agony,  passion  and  death,  grant,  we  beseech  Thee,  that  we, 
mindful  of  all  that  Thou  hast  borne  for  us,  may  bear  our  light 
afflictions  patiently  for  Thy  sake,  so  that  sharing  Thy  suffer- 
ings we  may  at  Thy  second  coming  awake  and  go  forth  to 
meet  Thee  with  the  multitudes  of  Thy  redeemed  ones,  and 
enter  with  praises  into  the  everlasting  City,  and  be  made  par- 
takers of  Thy  rest  and  glory,  who  livest  and  reignest  with 
the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


MONDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  233 


iHonuar  in  f  olt  aiUeft 


Jesus  answered,  Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day? 

Christ  made  this  question  His  answer  when  Hia 
disciples  warned  Him  that  to  go  up  toward  Jeru- 
salem would  be  to  go  towards  peril  and  death. 
Great  truths  seldom  wear  so  commanding  an  aspect 
as  when  they  look  out  upon  us  from  some  familiar 
image  like  this.  As  His  manner  often  is,  the  Divine 
Teacher  here  makes  a  commonplace  fact,  lying 
under  our  constant  observation,  —  the  mere  duration 
of  the  daylight,  —  represent  a  great  doctrine  of 
practical  religion.  Having  just  heard,  from  the  two 
sisters  of  Lazarus,  of  their  brother's  sickness,  and 
knowing  that  he  will  die,  Jesus  proposes  to  His  dis- 
ciples to  go  to  the  bereaved  house.  At  present  they 
are  in  a  place  of  retirement  and  comparative  safety, 
—  Perea,  beyond  the  Jordan.  A  journey  to  Beth- 
any will  take  Him  close  to  Jerusalem,  where  bitter 
enemies  are  watching  for  Him.  Naturally  enough, 
His   disciples  remonstrate:    "Master,  the   Jews   of 


234        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

late  sought  to  stone  Thee,  and  goest  Thou  thither 
again  ? "  There  arises,  then,  one  of  those  test- 
questions  of  character^  such  as  we  all  have  some- 
times to  meet,  where  self-interest,  with  personal 
security,  stands  in  one  path,  and  duty,  with  danger, 
in  another.  He,  whose  joy  it  was  to  make  Himself 
a  sacrifice  for  us,  struck  directly  onward  in  the  line 
of  His  Father's  will,  whether  it  was  only  Bethany 
and  its  hospitable  roof,  or  Gethsemane  and  Calvary 
beyond,  with  their  blood  and  torture,  that  waited  to 
receive  Him. 

The  first  thought  is  that  it  can  never  be  otherwise 
than  safe  to  do  right.  Almighty  God  fixes  the 
length  of  the  day,  —  twelve  hours.  While  you  are 
walking  with  Him,  His  plans  protect  you.  His  ordi- 
nances befriend  you.  His  hands  hold  you  up  and  clear 
the  way.  His  sunshine  flows  down  upon  you.  His 
invisible  angels  watch  over  you.  It  may  not  always 
seem  so ;  it  certainly  will  not  so  long  as  we  look 
only  through  the  eyes  of  sense.  Clouds  and  dark- 
ness may  appear  to  overhang  the  path  of  the  just, 
and  night  to  be  shutting  in  before  its  time  ;  but  it 
is  appearance  only.  No  outward  hindrances  can 
shorten  God's  time,  or  take  back  His  promise.  Your 
"  day,"  for  His  service,  has  just  twelve  hours. 
There  may  be  pointed  swords  or  treacherous  pitfalls, 
sneering  faces  or  the  substantial  scourges  of  poverty, 


MONDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  235 

solitude  and  hatred,  planted  at  every  step,  from  this 
safe  Perea  over  to  Jerusalem  and  the  Judgment 
Hall ;  no  matter ;  if  God's  will  and  word  command 
you  to  go  by  that  road,  your  strength  will  be  equal 
to  your  day,  and  your  day  will  be  as  long  as  it  ought 
to  be.  If  it  seems  to  be  cut  short  here,  it  will  be 
filled  out  in  a  glorious  immortality,  —  not  an  hour 
lost. 

On  the  other  hand,  no  paltry  calculations  can 
keep  us  out  of  harm's  way,  when  we  are  turning 
back  from  Him  who  seeth  the  end  from  the  begin- 
ning. What  is  the  rest  of  life  worth,  however 
lengthened  out,  to  the  deserter  from  the  army,  or 
the  hireling  that  straggles  to  the  rear  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  battle  ?  You  may  be  young  or  old ;  a 
man  of  business  or  a  woman  in  retirement ;  no  mat- 
ter what  you  are,  or  where  you  are.  If  your  en- 
emies are  in  any  Jerusalem,  and  you  run  away  from 
your  post  of  dangerous  duty  into  any  desert,  there 
are  ten  thousand  unforeseen  mischances  there,  any 
one  of  which  may  make  an  end  of  you,  or  an  end 
of  your  peace,  because  you  have  made  an  end  of 
your  Christian  manhood,  and  of  the  fellowship  and 
pledged  protection  of  your  Lord.  There  is  no  se- 
curity, no  daylight  anywhere,  but  in  Him. 

By  being  a  loyal  soldier  of  Christ,  brave  and  self- 
sacrificing,  you  may,  perhaps,  cut  off  some  part  of 


23(5        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

your  life  on  earth,  and  perhaps  not.  God  only 
knows ;  life  and  breath  are  His  ;  so  is  the  life  ever- 
lasting. But  what  are  a  few  days  more  or  less? 
What  are  a  few  more  worth  to  you,  if  life  is  all 
hollow,  base,  and  worldly,  with  no  covenant  of  grace 
and  mercy  over  it  ?  What  a  few  Zess,  if  life  is  filled 
up  with  honor,  and  its  short  day  melts  the  sooner 
into  the  perfect  light  of  heaven  ? 

Hence  this  answer  of  our  Lord  brings  in,  for  the 
solution  of  these  deep  questions  about  duty  and 
danger,  another  arbiter  besides  conscience,  and  that 
is  Christian  faith.  Conscience  may  render  a  clear 
verdict  enough,  but  she  is  not  strong  enough  to  ex- 
ecute it  alone.  The  soul  anxiously  inquires.  Suppose 
this  is  right,  and  I  follow  conscience,  —  who  is  on 
the  side  of  right  ?  Who  will  stand  by  me  and  bear 
me  out  ?  Who  will  keep  my  feet  from  falling,  my 
eyes  from  tears,  —  or  pity  them  when  they  come,  — 
and  this  soul  from  death  ?  Christ  replies.  Are  there 
not  twelve  hours  of  light,  —  and  is  not  that  light 
sent  down  by  Him  who  has  promised  that  whoever 
walks  in  it  shall  not  stumble  ?  That  is,  entertain 
no  fears  about  results.  The  daylight  you  walk  in 
is  not  drawn  from  within  you,  and  your  success  will 
not  be.  The  day's  length  is  fixed.  No  human  in- 
terference can  hinder  the  dawn  or  hasten  the  twi- 
light.    Everything  is  ordered  and  falls  into  place. 


MONDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  237 

All  tilings  work  together  for  good  to  them  that  fear 
God.  Acknowledge  Him,  and  thy  foot  shall  not 
stumble. 

The  second  thought  is  that  in  following  out  the 
right  Hne  of  Christian  duty,  there  is  to  be  no  rash 
defiance  of  danger  and  no  wild  disregard  of  fit  times 
and  seasons.  In  the  hands  of  Christ,  on  His  calm 
lips,  or  in  His  wise  and  patient  example,  we  never 
find  zeal  blind-folded,  decision  running  into  obsti- 
nacy, or  devotion  cut  loose  from  reason.  There  are 
repeated  instances  in  the  life  of  our  Lord  where  He 
carefully  withheld  Himself  from  useless  exposure. 
He  avoided  provocation.  He  forbade  His  friends  to 
precipitate  upon  Him  or  them  a  premature  arrest  by 
an  indiscriminate  display  of  the  "  pearls  "  of  His 
Gospel.  We  are  told  of  His  unfolding  the  great 
mystery  of  His  Messiahship  gradually  to  the  people, 
as  they  were  able  to  bear  it.  How  sublimely  clear 
His  spirit  is  of  all  that  eager  ambition  which  mixes 
up  a  personal  willfulness  with  the  high  behests  of 
God's  Law,  the  false  independence  and  false  bold- 
ness which  despise  experience,  reject  authority,  scorn 
the  past,  and  push  their  way  by  a  headstrong  pride ! 
Living  habitually  in  the  secret  counsels  of  the 
Father,  acting  always  for  that  Holy  will  which  it 
was  His  meat  and  drink  to  do,  flattery  could  not 
bring  Him  forward  or  opposition  drive  Him  back- 


238        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

ward.  There  was  time  enough  for  the  work  given 
to  do,  but  not  one  moment  for  idleness,  or  display, 
or  sentimental  indulgence.  This  is  the  exact  differ- 
ence between  true  earnestness  and  fanaticism.  Fa- 
naticism is  inflamed  and  driven  by  passion,  pride, 
and  bigotry ;  true  earnestness,  born  of  a  meek  and 
lowly  faith,  waits  only  to  know  God's  will ;  and 
when  once  that  is  revealed  cannot  be  kept  back  from 
obeying  it.     There  are  twelve  hours  in  its  day. 

Blending  these  two  principles  together,  —  the  cour- 
age of  faith  and  the  humility  of  faith,  —  we  arrive 
at  this  large  and  comforting  doctrine  for  Christian 
practice  :  There  is  rooin  enough  in  every  life  for  all 
that  life's  work,  God  has  a  plan  for  every  human 
spirit's  probation.  Nothing  falls  out  of  that  plan 
by  accident.  Nothing  interferes  with  it,  but  our 
own  rebellion.  Even  our  freedom  has  its  fixed  limits 
which  it  never  can  overpass.  In  little  details  of 
conduct,  a  moment  at  a  time,  we  may  seem  to  have 
our  own  way  ;  but  in  the  long  run  we  are  overruled. 
How  common  it  is  to  hear  resolute,  energetic  men 
confessing  their  whole  earthly  course  a  failure  !  One 
of  the  saddest  documents  I  ever  heard  read  was  a 
private  letter  written  by  one  of  our  most  distin- 
guished countrymen  to  another,  in  which,  though  he 
had  been  crowned  with  an  almost  unprecedented 
succession  of  honors,  and  had  scarcely  ever  spoken 


MONDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  239 

or  written  without  winning  the  admiration  of  en- 
tire communities  of  men,  he  pronounced  his  whole 
career  a  miserable  disappointment,  too  painful  to  re- 
member. The  great  events  that  mark  off  and  sig- 
nalize existence  are  beyond  control,  —  the  strokes 
of  the  hammer  of  that  clock  which  tells  the  begin- 
ning and  the  end  of  the  twelve  hours.  None  of  us 
can  determine  the  circumstances  that  direct  his  early 
steps  and  mould  his  youth ;  none  can  command  the 
elements  or  accidents ;  none  can  decide  when  he 
shall  be  sick,  or  well,  or  find  time  to  die.  These 
twelve  fixed  hours  are  not  of  equal  length  to  all  per- 
sons. Ninety  years  are  not  too  much  for  a  good 
man's  pilgrimage  ;  yet  another  fills  out  a  noble  testi- 
mony and  finishes  a  glorious  warfare  on  some  public 
battle-field  or  in  some  hidden  corner  of  the  vineyard, 
before  the  dew  of  youth  has  been  dried  up. 

*'  Alike  in  God's  all-seeing  eye 
The  infant's  day,  the  patriarch's  age." 

It  is  not  so  much  the  period  that  is  of  consequence, 
as  the  living  of  it  all  out,  clearly  and  faithfully,  in 
the  service  of  the  Master,  —  as  a  Heaven-appointed 
time. 

It  is  for  lack  of  faith  in  the  God  of  our  life  that 
we  hardly  undertake  even  a  good  enterprise  before 
beginning  to  be  anxious  about  the  result,  impatient 


240        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

to  finish  it  and  see  the  fruit,  or  afraid  life  will  not 
be  long  enough  to  finish  it  at  all.  Christ's  word 
here  lifts  the  Christian  up  to  a  peaceable  superiority 
over  this  agitation,  by  the  side  of  his  Lord.  It  bids 
the  disheartened  friends  of  beneficent  undertakings 
remember  that  God  never  allows  the  sun  to  set  too 
soon,  and  never  crowds  two  days  into  one.  It  tells 
those  who  doubt  whether  their  prayers  are  heard, 
that  blessings  sometime  gain  in  richness  by  their 
slowness  in  coming.  It  tells  feeble  fathers  and  moth- 
ers, distressed  lest  their  children  should  be  left  or- 
phans, that  there  is  a  Father  who  lives  and  is  con- 
stant even  when  mothers  die  or  forget,  and  that  He 
has  more  ways  than  one  of  training  weakness  into 
power,  orphanage  into  patronage,  the  forsaken  into 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  honor  singing  as  in  the 
days  of  their  youth,  and  valleys  of  Achor  into  Doors 
of  Hope.  It  tell  the  lonely  and  sorrowing  to  fear 
none  of  those  things  that  they  shall  suffer,  because 
Christ  has  suffered  for  them  in  the  flesh  and  over- 
come the  world. 

The  doctrine  is  still  further  practical,  because  it 
rebukes  and  cools  down  that  feverish  haste  which 
disorders  so  much  human  work,  and  is  such  a  dis- 
creditable characteristic  of  a  worldly-minded  and 
irreverent  age,  with  little  faith  and  little  love.  It 
is  certainly  remarkable,  that  in  all  the  life  of  Jesus 


MONDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  241 

in  the  flesh,  —  though  the  weight  of  the  world's  re- 
demption was   pressing  upon  Him,  and  His  minis- 
try of  eternal  reconciliation  was  bounded  by  three 
short  years,  yet  there  is  not  a  single  step  or  move- 
ment of  His,  from  first  to  last,  that  gives  us  an  im- 
pression of  haste.     Always  straitened  till  His  whole 
work   is   accomplished,   because    the    night   cometh 
when  no  man  can  work,  He  is  yet  always  deliberate. 
Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in  His  day  ?     He  is  al- 
most as  free  from  hurry  as  He  is  from  sin.     You  see 
His  disciples  urging  Him  hither  and  thither.     They 
want  Him  to  go  sooner,  or  stay  later,  to  call  down 
revengeful  fire,  or  to  make  a  more  sudden  manifesta- 
tion.    "  If  Thou  be  the  Christ,  show  Thyself  to  the 
world."     But  He  still  bides  His  time,  and  only  says 
His  hour  is  not  yet  full  come.     Summoned  to  this 
very  miracle  of  mercy  at  Bethany,  He  paused  and 
waited,  no  one  then  knew  why,  tarrying  four  days 
in  the  place  where   He  was.     It  is   thus  when  God 
speaks  by  His  Prophet  of  His  grandest  works,— 
laying   in  Zion  a  sure   foundation    and   a   precious 
corner-stone,  —  that   He   says,  "He   that   believeth 
shall   not   make   haste."      Faith   works,    works   in- 
tensely, works  while  all  the  twelve  hours  of  the  day 
last,  and  yet  can  wait  in  cheerful  submission,  in  hope, 
and  in  peace. 

There  is  only  one  thought  more   to   be  touched. 


16 


242        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

The  twelve  hours  are  to  be  filled  up.  Not  one  of 
them,  or  one  minute  or  second  in  any  of  them,  can 
we  afford  to  throw  away,  or  lose.  Christian  waiting 
is  not  idleness,  but  a  kind  of  busy  waiting.  What- 
ever compassion  there  may  be  for  them  that  come 
into  Christ's  vineyard  at  the  eleventh  hour,  because 
no  man  hath  hired  them,  we  are  not  of  those.  We 
were  all  called  long  ago,  and  the  reward  was  set 
before  us  by  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith. 
There  is  an  end  of  these  hours,  and  it  is  near  at 
hand.  There  are  only  twelve,  and  they  are  all 
short.  They  darken  over  in  early  youth,  very  often. 
They  end  always  at  the  Bar  of  a  most  solemn  Judg- 
ment, where  small  and  great,  those  that  die  young 
and  those  that  die  old,  stand  together  before  God, 
and  the  Book  of  Remembrance  is  opened,  and  all 
are  judged  out  of  the  Book. 

Lent  is  almost  gone.  The  months  are  but  hours ; 
there  are  but  twelve  of  them  in  a  year.  Compared 
with  what  is  to  come,  all  our  days  and  years  now  are 
only  as  a  night,  which  is  "  far  spent."  Another 
"  day  is  at  hand."  "  If  any  man  walk  in  the  night 
he  stumbleth.  If  any  man  walk  in  the  day,  he 
stumbleth  not,  because  he  seeth  the  Light  of  this 
world."  Who  of  us  must  not  look  up  and  ask,  "  Oh, 
where  is  this  light  ?  "  Jesus  said,  "  I  am  the  Light 
of  the  world.  Whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in 
me  shall  not  die  eternally." 


MONDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  243 

Even  at  Eleven 

God  sometimes  giveth  space  to  work  for  heaven  ; 

But  yet  I  would  not  have  thee  wait 

Until  twelfth  hour  of  day, 
Lest,  when  it  groweth  late, 

Christ  should  not  pass  thy  way; 
But  haste  without  delay 
Into  the  market-place 
Of  grace: 
There  thou  shalt  find 

A  Master  kind. 
And  liberal  pay. 

Take  unto  Thyself,  O  Father, 

This  folded  day  of  Thine, 

This  weary  day  of  mine. 

Its  ragged  corners  cut  me  yet,  — 

Oh  still  the  jar  and  fret! 

Father  do  not  forget 

That  I  am  tired 

With  this  marred  day  ot  Thine, 

This  erring  day  of  mine! 

Forget  not  but  forgive. 

And  let  me  live 

The  life  divine! 

/^  THOU  Holy  One  who  hast  ordered  the  day  and  set  each 
hour  in  its  place,  and  who  makest  the  morning  and  even- 
ing to  praise  Thee,  help  us  to  work  with  our  hands  the  thing 
that  is  good  while  the  day  lasts,  seeing  that  the  night  cometh 
when  no  man  can  work.  Purify  our  minds  from  all  vain,  evil, 
and  wandering  thoughts.     Enlighten  our  understandino-.     Kin- 


244        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

die  our  affections.  Strengthen  our  love  and  gratitude.  And 
direct  our  hearts  and  bodies  to  the  patient  and  diligent  waiting 
for  Christ;  and  bring  our  souls  to  the  everlasting  life  and  felic- 
ity of  the  faithful  with  Thee,  O  Christ,  world  without  end. 
Amen. 


TUESDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  245 


Cueistiat  in  i^olr  22Iee6* 


DAY  OF  DIALOGUES   AND  PARABLES. 

Fear  none  of  those  things  which  thou  shalt  suffer. 

We  glory  in  tribulations  also. 

Nay,  in  all  these  things  we  are  more  than  conquerors,  through 
Him  that  loved  us. 

In  the  day  when  I  cried  Thou  answeredst  me,  and  strength- 
enedst  me  with  strength  in  my  soul. 

Saviour,  beneath  thy  yoke 

My  wayward  heart  doth  pine; 
All  unaccustomed  to  the  stroke 

Of  love  divine. 
Thy  chastisements,  my  God,  are  hard  to  bear, 
Thy  cross  is  heavy  for  frail  flesh  to  wear. 

Perishing  child  of  clay  ! 

Thy  sighing  I  have  heard  ; 
Long  have  I  marked  thy  evil  way, 

How  thou  hast  erred  I 
Yet,  fear  not;  hy  my  own  most  holy  name, 
I  will  shed  healing  through  thy  stricken  frame. 

Praise  to  Thee,  gracious  Lord ! 
I  fain  would  be  at  rest; 


246        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Oh,  now  fulfill  Thy  faithful  word 

And  make  me  blest; 
My  soul  would  lay  her  heavy  burden  down, 
And  take,  with  joyfulness,  the  promised  crown. 

Stay,  thou  short-sighted  child  ! 

There  is  much  Jirst  to  do. 
Thy  heart  so  long  by  sin  defiled, 

I  must  renew  ; 
Thy  will  must  here  he  taught  to  bend  to  mine. 
Or  the  sweet  peace  of  heaven  can  ne^er  be  thine. 

Yea,  Lord,  hnt  Thou  canst  soon 

Perfect  Thy  work  in  me, 
Till,  like  the  pure,  calm  summer  noon, 

I  shine  by  Thee,  — 
A  moment  shine,  that  I  Thy  power  may  trace, 
Then  pass  in  stiUness  to  Thy  heavenly  place. 

Ah  !  coioard  soul,  confess 

Thou  shrinkest  from  my  cure, 
Thou  tremblest  at  the  sharp  distress 

Thou  must  endure. 
The  foes  on  every  hand,  for  ivar  arrayed, 
The  thorny  path  in  tribulation  laid, 

The  process  sloiu  of  years, 

The  discipline  of  life, 
Of  outward  woes  and  secret  tears. 

Sickness  and  strife  — 
Thine  idols  taken  from  thee  one  by  one. 
Till  thou  canst  dare  to  live  with  me  alone. 


TUESDAY  IN  HOLY   WEEK.  247 

Some  gentle  souls  there  are, 

Who  yield  unto  my  love, 
Who,  ripening  fast  beneath  my  care, 

I  soon  remove  ; 
But  thou  stiffnecked  art,  and  hard  to  rule, 
Thou  must  stay  longer  in  affliction's  school. 

My  Maker  and  my  King ! 

Is  this  Thy  love  to  me  ? 
Oh  that  I  had  the  ho-htning's  wing;;, 

From  earth  to  flee. 
How  can  I  bear  the  heavy  weight  of  woes, 
Thine  indignation  on  Thy  creature  throws  ? 

Thou  canst  not,  0  my  child. 

So  hear  my  voice  again ; 
I  will  hear  all  thy  anguish  wild. 

Thy  grief,  thy  pain  ; 
My  arms  shall  he  around  thee,  day  hy  day, 
My  smile  shall  cheer  thee  on  thy  heavenward  way 

In  sickness  I  will  he 

Watching  beside  thy  bed. 
In  sorrow  thou  shalt  lean  on  me 

Thy  aching  head ; 
In  every  struggle  thou  shalt  conqueror  provCt 
Nor  death  itself  shall  sever  from  my  love. 

O  grace  beyond  compare ! 

0  love  most  high  and  pure ! 
Saviour,  begin,  no  longer  spare, 

1  can  endure ; 


248        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Only  vouchsafe  Thy  grace,  that  I  may  live 
•  Unto  Thy  glory,  who  canst  so  forgive. 

f^  THOU  who  art  the  God  of  patience  and  consolation,  in 
^^  every  hour  of  suffering  beneath  Thy  Hand  strengthen  us, 
we  beseech  Thee,  with  spiritual  strength  in  our  hearts,  that 
we  may  bear  every  yoke  and  burden  of  Thy  laying  on  without 
unwillingness.  We  are  all  unable  to  stand  under  the  cross  of 
ourselves.  But  Thou,  O  holy  Jesus,  who  wert  pleased  under 
its  distress  to  admit  a  man  to  bear  a  part  of  the  load.  Thou 
who  bearest  all  for  man's  sake,  be  pleased  to  help  us,  that  we 
may  be  strongest  when  we  are  weakest.  K  our  spirits  faint 
within  us,  and  we  are  cast  down,  still  enable  us  to  endure 
whatever  Thou  pleasest.  Give  us  holy  consolations,  and  the 
peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness.  Let  us  never  fall  from  Thee 
through  pleasure  or  through  pain,  but  so  quicken  our  faith  and 
support  our  souls  that  we  may  at  last  come  forth  from  Thy 
furnace  as  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  being  made  conquerors  and 
more  than  conquerors,  through  Him  that  hath  loved  us,  and 
given  Himself  for  us,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 


WEDNESDAY  IN  HOLY   WEEK.  249 


CJLTetJnesiDat  in  ipolt  U\tt% 


The  Cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is 
crucified  unto  me  and  I  unto  the  world. 

In  the  Apostle's  ardent,  rapid  style,  tlie  figures 
often  follow  each  other  so  swiftly  that  they  seem  to 
mingle  together  ;  and  there  is  sometimes  a  moment's 
confusion.  But  there  is  always  one  simple  key  that 
unlocks  his  complicated  imagery,  and  makes  the 
meaning  plain.  It  is  his  personal  loyalty,  love,  and 
faith,  towards  his  Master.  Just  so  far  as  we  have 
the  light  of  that  same  holy  passion  in  us,  while  we 
read  his  writings,  everything  in  them  grows  clear. 

In  one  sentence  we  see  three  crucifixions  ;  and  yet, 
under  all  the  three,  there  is  one  and  the  same  grand 
truth,  one  sublime  principle  of  self-sacrificing  love. 

First,  there  is  "  the  Cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. ^^  This  is  the  personal  crucifixion  of  the 
Saviour  Himself,  —  that  Lamb  of  God  whose  pre- 
cious blood  is  the  only  saving  Life  for  every  sinful 
heart  in  the  world.  It  is  by  virtue  of  that  one  only 
complete   and  sufficient  sacrifice,  that  every   other 


250        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

self-denial  gets  its  Christian  value.  Hence  St.  Paul 
says,  with  his  overpowering  and  exclusive  energy  of 
thankful  devotion,  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory  in 
anything  but  that ! 

Next  is  the  crucifixion  of  that  mixed  and  ever-pres- 
ent power  of  attraction  and  temptation,  called  "  the 
world."  "  The  world  is  crucified  unto  me."  This 
fascinating,  terrible  Tempter,  which  tries  the  purity 
and  honor  of  every  soul,  whether  saved  or  lost,  has 
to  be  so  yoked  under  and  broken  down,  so  denied 
and  killed,  to  all  such  as  will  be  saved,  that  it  is  said 
to  be  slain  on  a  cross.  It  must  be  humiliated,  smit- 
ten, trampled  under  foot,  by  the  holy  strength  of  a 
regenerate  will  till  all  its  eager  mischief  is  dead,  and 
the  emancipated  disciple  can  walk  through  the  midst 
of  it  unhurt,  in  it  but  not  of  it,  untainted  by  its 
corruption,  and  not  so  much  as  the  smell  of  its  fire  on 
his  garments. 

But  to  that  end  there  must  be  yet  a  third  cruci- 
fixion :  "  And  I  unto  the  world."  The  suffering  is 
thus  represented  as  mutual,  —  "  the  world  unto  me, 
and  I  unto  the  world,"  —  only  to  give  energy  and  in- 
tensity to  the  expression  of  that  profound  and  solemn 
necessity.  That  is,  the  real  agency  by  which  the 
worldly  spirit  is  destroyed  is  not  out  in  the  world  it- 
seK :  for  that  dances  on,  as  gay  and  lusty  and  proud 
and  selfish  as  ever :  but  it  is  within  you,  —  in  the 


WEDNESDAY   IN   HOLY  WEEK.  251 

secret  pangs  of  the  second  birth  to  every  new-bom 
heart.  It  is  that  giving  up  of  the  world  which  tears, 
pierces,  bleeds,  crucifies  our  self-seeking  devices.  For 
you  the  cords  are  fastened,  the  limbs  are  stretched, 
the  nails  are  driven,  the  blood  flows,  and  the  fainting 
flesh,  under  its  torture,  cries,  "  My  God,  my  God, 
why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  And  all  this  giving 
up^  this  sacrifice  of  passion,  of  admiration,  of  earthly 
pleasure,  of  wrong  pursuits  and  property,  of  idols  in 
business,  idols  in  society,  idols  in  the  house,  idols  in 
the  secret  ambitions  and  lusts  of  the  mind,  —  all  of  it 
is  for  Christ's  dear  and  glorious  sake,  —  hy  whom^  — 
by  whose  faith  and  promise  and  life  and  death,  by 
whose  inestimable  gift,  by  whose  agony  and  bloody 
sweat,  by  whose  Cross  and  Passion,  —  the  blessed 
power  is  given,  and  the  triumph  of  renunciation  is 
gained. 

But  against  all  this  the  natural  selfishness  in  us 
rises  in  determined  opposition.  It  will  glory  in  any- 
thing else  rather  than  in  the  Cross  ;  in  having  its 
own  way,  in  reputation,  in  business  success,  in  riches, 
in  taking  the  lead  in  fashionable  distinctions  :  it  does 
not  wish  the  world  to  be  crucified  to  it,  for  the  world 
is  the  theatre  of  its  display :  it  does  not  wish  itself 
to  be  crucified  to  the  world,  for  there  it  finds  all  its 
excitements  and  enjoyments.  Here,  then,  is  the  per- 
petual and  deadly  conflict  between  man's  self-will 
and  the  spirit  of  the  Cross. 


252        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

We  are  not  left  in  the  least  uncertainty  as  to  what 
this  giving  up  of  selfishness  is  to  be.  The  Guide 
deals  in  no  vague  generalities,  but  is  wonderfully- 
definite  and  plain-spoken.  Not  only  does  St.  Paul 
set  it  before  us  under  his  strong  images.  The  Gos- 
pels resound  in  our  compromising  and  divided  hearts, 
—  paltering  with  a  double  purpose,  and  vacillating 
between  the  Church  and  the  market,  —  "No  man 
can  serve  two  masters."  And  then,  lest  we  should 
lose  the  meaning  in  the  generality  of  the  language, 
they  go  on  to  specify  three  of  the  commoner  tempta- 
tions of  the  sensual  nature,  —  eating,  drinking,  dress  : 
"  Take  no  thought  for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat, 
or  what  ye  shall  drink,  nor  yet  for  your  body  what 
ye  shall  put  on." 

What  the  secularized  Church  among  us  needs,  to 
heal  its  backsliding,  and  rouse  it  to  new  and  grander 
power  over  men,  is  no  external  thing  whatever,  but 
more  of  this  unworldly  self-sacrificing  mind  which  was 
in  Christ  Jesus.  Lent  and  Passion  Week  and  Good 
Friday  are  mockeries  without  it.  What  we  all  need, 
personally,  to  quicken  our  spiritual  coldness  or  dead- 
ness,  to  purify  us  as  with  a  refiner's  fire,  to  break  up 
the  clouds  of  doubt  and  discouragement  and  fear 
that  hang  about  us,  is  only  to  get  clear  of  this  fatal 
entanglement  in  the  false  standards  of  a  worldly  so- 
ciety,  and  the  bondage   of    a  worldly  indulgence. 


WEDNESDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  253 

This  is  freedom,  this  will  be  peace,  —  to  crucify  that 
sinful  interior  "  world  "  which  itself  crucified  the 
Lord  of  glory,  and  so  to  glory  in  His  Cross. 

"Nothing,"  says  the  "  Theologia  Germanica," 
"  nothing  burneth  in  hell  but  self-will.  Therefore  it 
hath  been  said,  '  Put  off  thine  own  will  and  there 
will  be  no  hell.  Sin  is  nothing  else  than  that  the 
creature  willeth  otherwise  than  God  willeth.  And 
this  contradiction  to  God's  will  is  what  we  call,  and 
is,  disobedience,  and  therefore  '  Adam,'  '  self-will,'  or 
the  '  old  man,'  or  '  departing  from  God,'  do  all  mean 
one  and  the  same  thing.  Had  Adam  eaten  seven 
apples,  and  yet  never  claimed  anything  for  his  own, 
he  would  not  have  fallen ;  but  as  soon  as  he  called 
something  his  own  he  fell,  and  would  have  fallen  if 
he  had  never  touched  an  apple." 

"  If  a  man  truly  loves  God,"  said  the  saintly 
Tauler,  "  and  has  no  will  but  to  do  God's  will,  the 
whole  force  of  the  river  Rhine  may  run  at  him,  and 
will  not  disturb  him  or  break  his  peace.  If  we  find 
outward  things  a  danger  or  disturbance,  it  comes 
from  our  appropriating  to  ourselves  what  is  God's. 

"  We  need  to  become  like  little  children,  willing  to 
let  our  Heavenly  Father  guide  us,  without  imposing 
upon  Him  any  conditions  ;  willing  to  have  much  or 
little,  to  be  learned  or  ignorant,  to  go  or  stay,  to  sit 
down  or  to  rise  up,  to  speak  on  or  to  be  silent,  to  be 


254        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

honored  or  dishonored,  to  be  on  the  mount  of  joy  or 
in  the  valley  of  humiliation,  —  to  be  anything  or 
nothing,  just  as  God  wills.  To  him  who  has  reached 
this  blessed  condition,  salvation  is  no  longer  merely  a 
possible  thing  outside  of  him,  but  the  soul  is  saved 
and  heaven  already  begun." 

So,  too,  with  wonderful  truth  and  most  scriptural 
power,  writes  the  spiritually-minded  Culverwell : 
"  There  is  nothing  contrary  to  God  in  the  whole 
world,  and  fights  against  Him,  but  self-will.  Our 
only  way  to  recover  God  and  happiness  is,  not  to  soar 
up  with  our  understandings,  but  to  destroy  this  self- 
will  of  ours,  and  then  we  shall  find  our  wings  to  grow 
again,  and  ourselves  raised  aloft  into  the  free  air  of 
perfect  liberty,  which  is  perfect  happiness.  God  will 
not  hurt  us,  and  hell  cannot  hurt  us,  if  we  will  noth- 
ing but  what  God  wills.  Nay,  then  we  are  aided  by 
God  Himself,  and  the  whole  divinity  floweth  in  upon 
us.  When  we  have  cashiered  this  self-will  of  ours, 
which  did  but  shackle  and  confine  our  souls,  our  wills 
shall  then  be  widened  and  enlarged,  to  the  extent  of 
God's  own  will,  which  is  freedom  indeed." 

The  narrative  of  the  Evangelists,  marking  our 
Lord's  footsteps  from  day  to  day  as  He  draws  nigh 
to  the  darkness  which  enfolds  and  hides  for  a  mo- 
ment the  supreme  glory  of  the  earth,  tells  us  noth- 
ing of  this  Wednesday.     A  mystery  of  silence  hangs 


WEDNESDAY  IN   HOLY  WEEK.  255 

between  us  and  the  meek  and  royal  sufferer.  Who 
can  doubt  what  was  passing  in  His  solitary  spirit  ? 
The  august  agony,  the  more  sublime  throughout  for 
its  reserve,  had  already  begun.  The  power  of  "  the 
world  "  was  just  as  terribly  present  to  His  sight  all 
this  day  as  when,  a  few  hours  after,  it  gleamed  in 
the  soldiers'  spears,  and  sat  in  purple  on  Herod's 
throne,  and  dragged  Him  to  Calvary.  The  suffering 
was  there,  in  His  soul,  burdened  with  all  the  selfish- 
ness and  sin  of  selfish  and  sinful  men,  —  more  than 
in  the  torn  body  and  bleeding  side.  Let  us  never  re- 
gard His  Passion  as  a  mere  physical  anguish.  He  is 
girding  up  His  gentle  and  mighty  soul  to  bear  the 
last  outbreak  of  a  furious  and  mean  self-love,  which 
will  not  know  and  confess  its  Saviour  and  its  Lord. 
And  for  this  He  will  come  to-morrow  to  meet  His 
murderers,  knowing  that  to  the  world  and  to  each 
one  of  us  such  loss  is  gain,  such  suffering  is  peace, 
such  casting  down  is  triumph,  such  ashes  are  glory, 
such  death  is  Everlasting  Life. 

Therefore,  O  friend,  I  would  not  if  I  might 
Kebuild  my  house  of  lies,  wherein  I  joyed 
One  time  to  dwell ;  my  soul  shall  walk  in  white, 
Cast  down  but  not  destroyed. 

These  thorns  are  sharp,  yet  I  can  tread  on  them; 
The  cup  is  loathsome,  yet  He  makes  it  sweet; 


256        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

My  face  is  steadfast  toward  Jerusalem, 
My  heart  remembers  it. 

Beauty  for  aslies,  oil  of  joy  for  grief, 
Garment  of  praise  for  spirit  of  heaviness: 
Although  to-day,  fading  as  doth  a  leaf, 
I  languish  and  grow  less. 

Although  to-day  he  prunes  my  tree  with  pain, 
Yet  doth  His  blood  nourish  and  warm  my  root; 
To-morrow  I  shall  put  forth  buds  again, 
And  clothe  myself  with  fruit. 

Although  to-day  I  walk  in  tedious  ways, 
To-day  His  staff  is  turned  into  a  rod. 
Yet  will  I  wait  for  Him  the  appointed  days, 
And  stay  upon  my  God. 

f\  BLESSED  Son  of  God,  who  hast  suffered  for  our  sins  a 
^^  more  dreadful  pain  than  we  are  able  to  know,  that  we 
might  be  brought  out  of  all  the  fear  and  misery  of  death,  have 
mercy  upon  our  too  great  and  continual  love  of  ourselves. 
Grant  unto  us,  and  unto  all  good  people  that  have  this  Thy 
blessed  Passion  now  in  remembrance,  a  deep  and  awful  appreci- 
ation of  the  mystery  of  mercy  in  Thy  Cross,  a  godly  and  humble 
life  in  this  present  world,  a  victory  over  it,  and  at  last  to  dwell 
with  Thee  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  which  Thou  hast  opened 
to  all  believers,  where  Thou  livest  and  reignest,  world  without 
end.    Amen. 


THURSDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.  257 


C]^ur0Dar  in  i^ol^  (Ktleefe. 


If  a  man  love  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  how  can 
he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen. 

Above  all  these  things,  put  on  charity,  which  is  the  bond  of 
perfectness. 

If  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and  there  rememberest 
that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee,  leave  there  thy  gift 
before  the  altar  and  go  thy  way;  first  be  reconciled  to  thy 
brother,  and  then  come  and  offer  thy  gift. 

Were  there  no  other  peculiar  interest  attached 
to  the  day  before  the  Crucifixion  than  the  delivery 
of  the  new  commandment  of  love,  or  charity,  that 
alone  would  lift  this  anniversary  into  a  singular 
eminence  and  dignity.  Falling  when  it  does,  in 
these  searching  commemorations,  it  calls  us  not  to 
general  contemplations  of  the  beauty  of  charity,  but 
to  a  fearless  scrutiny  of  the  causes  of ,  our  lack  of  it ; 
and  first  among  the  bad  elements  that  make  up  un- 
charitableness  we  must  reckon  an  excessive  self-love. 
Between  ourselves  and  those  about  us  there  is  almost 
always  going  on,  if  not  an  open  competition,  at 
least  a  secret  comparison.     In  that  comparison,  as 

17 


258     •   NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

others  sink  we  relatively  rise.  To  disparage  or  dis- 
esteem  a  rival  is  a  selfish  advantage ;  and  to  selfish 
natures  every  neighbor  is  a  rival.  Other  people 
stand  in  our  way,  —  or  we  fancy  they  do,  —  in  busi- 
ness, in  reputation,  in  social  favor  ;  and,  by  that 
meaner  disposition  in  us  which  allies  us  more  to 
animals  and  devils  than  to  saints  or  angels,  we  try 
to  drag  them  down  by  an  uncharitable  judgment. 
In  the  Litany  we  pray  to  be  delivered  from  "  envy, 
hatred,  and  malice,"  before  we  come  to  "  uncharita- 
bleness,"  and  from  "  pride  "  and  "  vain  glory  "  before 
those ;  but  the  truth  is,  these  ugly  growths  all  have 
one  root;  and  when  we  begin  to  pray  or  to  fight 
against  envy  or  pride,  the  attack  on  uncharitableness 
is  really  begun. 

Or,  the  process  may  be  subtler  and  craftier  yet. 
One  form  of  self-love  is  self-complacency.  By  pass- 
ing severe  denunciations  on  other  men's  errors,  we 
compliment  the  delicacy  of  our  own  moral  discrim- 
ination and  the  keenness  of  our  sense  of  right.  How 
can  Haman  be  very  far  from  right  if  he  have  such 
a  horror  of  Mordecai's  wrong  ?  This  is  the  way 
Pharisees  are  made.  Three  crimes  are  committed  in 
one ;  we  condemn  our  fellows  :  we  screen  our  own 
sin  :  we  flatter  our  own  self-esteem. 

A  second  bad  element  in  uncharitableness  is  a 
pleasurable  exercise  of   unjust   power.      Characters 


THURSDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.         259 

are  torn  to  pieces,  good  names  are  tarnislied,  faults 
are  exaggerated,  not  always  from  any  deliberately 
calculated  advantage,  but  simply  from  the  relish  of 
expending  strength,  and  seeing  the  blow  take  effect. 
Men  stand  over  the  real  or  imagined  prostration  of 
another's  fame,  as  children  of  eager  animal  spirits 
exult  in  tormenting  insects,  sportsmen  in  killing 
swift  game,  or  pugilists  in  a  victory  of  the  ring. 
It  is  not  absolute,  conscious  cruelty  ;  it  is  the  natural 
unprincipled  zest  of  expending  strength.  We  have 
heard  an  accomplished  orator  employ  his  learning 
and  his  eloquence  in  personal  abuse  prompted  by  no 
grudge,  not  even  by  political  disagreement,  but  by 
an  anatomist's  delight  in  a  professional  dissection. 
And  you  have  all  heard  two  uncharitable  talkers  in 
private  seat  themselves,  as  friends,  to  the  dismem- 
bering of  an  absent  person's  moral  constitution,  in 
the  thoughtless  play  of  satire;  and  then,  on  sepa- 
rating, repeat  the  same  wicked  experiment  on  one 
another.  Lacking  the  finer  ability  to  satirize  sys- 
tems, ideas,  or  qualities,  they  make  the  cheaper  and 
coarser  attack  on  individual  men  and  women.  Many 
of  the  unjust  and  unkind  speeches  which  make  par- 
lors a  scene  of  moral  gladiatorship  and  mutilation, 
are  only  the  uncharitableness  of  a  seK-asserting  and 
self-indulging  barbarity. 

A  third  pernicious  element  in  this  destructive  un- 


260        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

charitableness  is  pride  of  opinion,  with  impatience 
of  opposition.  The  popular  name  for  it  is  illiberal- 
ity.  Into  that  class  those  fall  who  lack  the  neces- 
sary intellectual  or  moral  dimensions  to  take  in  the 
actual  diversity  of  men's  original  composition,  and 
the  many  sidedness  of  truth.  Narrow  minds  take 
the  colored  refractions  in  the  rays  of  God's  great, 
Heaven-jBlling  light,  as  insults  to  their  own  vision. 
Confounding  a  necessary  difference  on  non-essentials 
with  a  designed  contradiction  of  their  own  conclu- 
sions, and  in  fact  seeming  sometimes  to  deny  that 
there  are  any  non-essentials  in  the  whole  domain  of 
belief,  they  make  of  every  person  who  is  of  another 
party  or  another  interest  than  theirs  a  wrong-headed 
and  wrong-hearted  enemy  to  God  and  man.  In 
large  part,  these  uncharitable  estimates  spring  more 
from  contracted  capacities  than  from  malice  on  the 
one  side,  or  disinterested  zeal  on  the  other.  But 
they  are  sins  unless  they  are  fought  and  overcome. 

In  addition  to  these  prolific  sources  of  uncharitable- 
ness,  with  some  kind  of  selfishness  at  the  bottom  of 
them  all,  reckon  in  a  common  confusion  of  honest 
ideas  as  to  how  far  our  loyalty  to  truth  and  virtue 
forbids  us  to  give  quarter  or  toleration  to  persons 
who  seem  to  us  to  have  departed  from  that  truth,  or 
violated  that  virtue ;  and  we  have  some  conception 
of  the  tremendous  obstacles  that  beset  the  growth  of 
the  greatest  Christian  grace. 


THURSDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.         261 

What  principles  are  there  to  guide  us  in  overcom- 
ing these  obstacles  and  fulfilling  Christ's  law  of 
love  ? 

First  of  all  is  the  great  rule  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  error  itself  and  the  living  man  that  holds 
the  error ;  or  the  vice,  which  by  its  nature  is  alto- 
gether evil,  and  the  human  heart  of  the  human 
brother  or  sister  which  with  its  mixed  ingredients 
is  stained  with  the  vice ;  hating  and  condemning  the 
vice,  but  loving  its  victim  ;  nay,  hating  the  vice  the 
more  because  it  has  made  him  its  victim.  You  will 
say  that,  in  practice,  such  discriminations  are  ex- 
tremely difficult.  That  is  true ;  but  they  are  none 
the  less,  for  that,  our  Christian  business;  and  no 
great  services  to  Christ  are  very  easy. 

We  despise  and  wrong  each  other  from  sheer  neg- 
lect to  understand  each  other.  Between  the  pub- 
lican and  the  Pharisee,  between  St.  Peter  and  St. 
James,  between  some  proud  woman  whose  life-long 
study  has  been  the  preservation  of  her  dignity,  and 
some  unguarded,  careless  child  of  the  affections, 
there  is  scarcely  enough  in  common,  by  nature,  to 
furnish  a  foothold  for  human  kindness  ;  and  unless 
that  blessed  interpreter.  Christian  Charity,  comes 
in  with  her  considerate  suggestions  and  favoring 
imaginations,  to  invent  some  gracious  theory,  and  to 
reconcile  them,  they  must  hate  each  other  forever. 


262        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Consider,  further,  that  miseducation,  corrupting 
or  misleading  examples,  the  circumstances  of  early- 
youth  unknown  to  you,  domestic  irritation  or  neg- 
lect, positive  instruction  taking  the  child's  mind  on 
its  weakest  side,  may  have  secretly  prepared  the 
way  for  that  immorality  which  now  defaces  a  fair 
name  or  distresses  a  household.  One  has  been  con- 
tinually baffled  and  goaded  by  disappointment  ;  one 
has  been  soured  by  an  uncongenial  home  ;  one  has 
never  known  the  sunshine  of  a  cheering,  .encour- 
aging accent  or  look  ;  one  has  been  stung  by  aggra- 
vating misunderstandings;  one  has  been  imitative, 
and  has  seen  none  but  base  or  ridiculous  patterns. 
How  suddenly  and  completely  many  of  our  most 
unhesitating  and  unqualified  condemnations  would  be 
silenced,  if  the  whole  early  history  of  the  wretched 
subject  of  them  could  be  laid  open  to  us !  We 
should  rather  exclaim,  in  awe-struck  and  grateful 
wonder,  at  the  Providence  that  made  our  fortunes  to 
differ,  and  the  tender  mercies  that  prevented  us  ! 

Charity  requires  us  further  to  remember  that  what- 
ever evil  our  neighbors  suffer  themselves  to  do,  we 
can  never  know  how  much  they  are  tempted  to  do 
which  they  effectually  restrain.  There  are  terrible 
battles  fought  in  all  human  breasts,  out  of  human 
sight.  Could  we  know  all  that  is  resisted,  and  all 
that  is  overcome,  behind  these  erring  lips  and  lives, 


THURSDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.         263 

we  should  often  have  to  admire  the  virtue  rather 
than  condemn  the  fault. 

These  are  some  of  the  secret  sources  of  that  ever- 
active  and  prolific  disturber  of  our  world,  —  an  un- 
charitable temper,  with  its  uncharitable  tongue. 
When  we  turn  to  the  beauty  and  the  glory  of  its 
celestial  opposite,  is  it  not  amply  worth  all  the 
pains  and  the  struggle  that  gain  the  mastery  ?  No 
touch  or  colors  can  paint  the  heavenly  loveliness  of 
love,  like  the  Apostle's,  on  whose  own  valiant  and 
hardy  manhood  love  sat,  with  the  charm  with  which 
power  and  courage  always  wear  the  grace  of  gentle- 
ness. Having  been  just  speaking  of  gifts  of  tongues, 
he  takes  up  the  image,  and  tells  us  there  is  no  magic 
or  fascination  of  melody  in  that  instrument  of  mar- 
velous delicacy  and  sympathy,  the  human  voice,  like 
the  music  in  the  accent  of  charity.  Nay,  the  image 
is  bolder  than  that.  Leave  out  that  secret  charm  of 
charity,  and  even  the  anthems  that  fill  heaven  with 
harmony  will  be  jangling  jars  of  dissonance,  tor- 
menting the  ear.  ''  Though  I  speak  with  the  tongues 
of  men  and  of  angels^  and  have  not  charity,  I  am 
become  as  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal." 
He  has  been  writing  to  the  Corinthians,  too,  of  cer- 
tain supernatural  endowments  of  the  early  Church. 
Not  the  brightest  and  rarest  of  these  gifts  could 
make  up  for  the  absence  of  this  diviner  attribute,  — 


264  NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

attainable  to  the  lowliest  and  plainest  Christian  in 
the  Church,  —  Christian  love.  "  Though  I  have  the 
gift  of  prophecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries,  and 
all  knowledge,  and  though  I  have  all  miraculous 
faith  so  that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and  have  not 
charity,  I  am  nothing."  We  are  apt  to  call  our 
little  almsgivings,  and  our  insignificant  and  broken 
sacrifices  of  time  and  comfort  for  Christ,  "  charity." 
See  how  the  searching  doctrine  runs  down  deeper 
than  this  superficial  notion,  tears  open  our  disguised 
and  complacent  self-seekings,  and  shows  martyrdom 
itself  to  be  the  possible  evidence  of  some  fanatic 
ambitions  or  fame-procuring  passion.  "  Though  I 
bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though  I 
give  my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  true,  in- 
bred, self -renouncing,  and  Christianized  charity,  it 
profiteth  me  nothing."  Next  follows  that  radiant 
list  of  celestial  offices  wrought  out  by  this  fairest- 
born  of  the  daughters  of  the  sky,  —  such  as  only  the 
love  of  lovers  and  mothers  can  even  faintly  imitate, 
—  rising  in  a  constantly  ascending  and  accumulating 
series  of  spiritual  honors,  till  it  culminates  in  the 
climax  of  eternity.  "  Charity  suffereth  long  and  is 
kind,  charity  envieth  not,  charity  vaunteth  not  itself, 
is  not  puffed  up,  doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly, 
seeketh  not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked,  thinketh 
no  evil,  rejoice th  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the 


THURSDAY  IN   HOLY  WEEK.  265 

truth,  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth 
all  things,  endureth  all  things :  charity  never  fail- 
ethy  Yes,  see  its  eternity,  —  its  immortal  vigor  and 
freshness.  For  the  door  of  Heaven  itself  is  thrown 
open,  and  lo  !  Charity  is  there,  as  she  was  forever, 
in  the  bosom  of  God,  —  now  in  the  hearts  of  His  re- 
deemed people.  All  personal  accomplishments,  in- 
tellectual masteries,  miraculous  exploits,  prophecies, 
tongues,  earthly  knowledge,  are  passing  away ;  the 
brightest  lights  go  out ;  the  finest  brain  is  broken ; 
the  most  eloquent  voice  is  still.  They  "  fail ;  "  they 
"  cease  ;  "  they  "  vanish  away."  They  are  all  "  in 
part,"  and  are  "done  away,"  "  when  that  which  is 
perfect  is  come."  Half -blind,  and  groping,  we  see  "as 
through  a  glass  darkly."  How  true  that  is !  The 
skies  are  clouded.  Our  very  eyes  are  weak,  and  ache 
with  straining  to  see.  But  all  that  lovely  air  is  clear ; 
and  when  the  purer  eyes  of  the  spiritual  body  are 
opened,  without  dimness,  doubt,  or  uncertainty,  in 
the  wondering  fullness  of  open  vision,  the  children 
of  Christian  charity  shall  see  face  to  face,  and  in 
the  "  love  that  passeth  knowledge  "  know  as  they  are 
known. 

In  these  days  of  tender  commemoration  of  our 
Lord's  loving  sorrow  we  multiply  our  acts  of  devo- 
tion ;  we  confirm  our  faith  ;  we  renew  our  hope. 
Are  we  doing  anything  to  enlarge  and  perfect  the 


266        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

charity  which  is  greater  than  either  ?  Empty  and 
profitless  before  God  will  all  our  prayers  be,  if  we 
carry  over  from  these  holy  services  into  Easter-week 
and  the  life  afterwards  any  unhealed  enmity,  any  un- 
charitable grudge,  any  unforgiving  hatred,  a  heart 
unreconciled  to  any  child  of  God. 

With  sound  of  lute  and  psalter 

I  laid  my  gift  one  morning  on  tlie  altar, 

And  much  I  marveled  why- 
There  came  no  sacred  fire  from  on  high 

My  offering  to  consume. 

While  kneeling  on  in  dark  and  wandering  gloom, 

I  heard  a  voice  from  heaven  say, 
"  Arise  and  go  thy  way; 

First  be  thou  with  thy  brother  reconciled 

Ere  thou  dost  bring  thine  offering  as  a  child." 

I  wept. 

Then  through  the  stillness  of  the  temple  crept, 

Struggling  with  shame  and  pride. 

I  sought  my  brother  in  the  busy  street, 

And  drew  him  gently  from  the  crowd  aside  — 
"  Give  me  thy  hand;  as  brothers  let  us  meet. 

Revenge  is  bitter,  but  forgiveness  sweet." 

And  lo !  that  moment  in  the  eastern  skies, 

I  saw  the  smoke  of  sacrifice  arise, 

And  knew  that  fire  divine 

Had  fallen  on  the  offering  that  was  mine. 

"TTTE  adore  Thee,  we  praise  and  glorify  Thee,  and  we  give 

thanks  unto  Thee,  O  Son  of  the  Living  God,  who  in  the 

great  and  divine  charity  wherewith  Thou  hast  loved  the  world 


THURSDAY  IN  HOLY  WEEK.         267 

hast  borne  the  suffering  of  death.  Thou  givest  to  all  Thy 
People  of  the  inestimable  benefits  of  Thy  most  precious  sacrifice, 
and  upbraidest  not.  For  when  Thou  wast  despised  and  mocked 
and  crucified,  Thou  didst  not  open  Thy  mouth  to  complain,  but 
didst  pray  to  the  Father  for  them  that  persecuted  and  tor- 
mented Thee.  Oh  grant  to  us  a  greater  measure  of  this  Thy 
forbearing  and  charitable  grace,  that  we  may  be  reconciled  and 
merciful  to  all  Thy  creatures,  and  so  follow  the  blessed  steps 
of  Thy  most  holy  life  into  the  same  place  where  Thou  hast 
gone  before,  there  to  worship  and  praise  Thee,  world  without 
end.    Amen, 


268        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


dPoou  ftMt 


For  I  delivered  unto  you,  first  of  all,  that  wliich  I  also  re- 
ceived, how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  Script- 
ures. 

"  FiKST  of  all :  "  that  fixes  the  place  of  the  Sav- 
iour's sacrifice  among  the  acts  of  His  ministry  and 
the  powers  of  His  mediation.  That  determines 
where  the  Cross  stands  in  the  moral  scenery  of  the 
Universe  ;  where  this  commemoration  of  the  Lord's 
Passion  belongs  among  the  days  of  the  year ;  where 
the  doctrine  of  redemption  must  be  held  among  the 
truths  and  teachings  of  the  Christian  system  of  faith. 
For  the  Apostle,  when  he  says,  "  first  of  all,"  does 
not  speak  of  the  orde?'  of  time  in  which  he  delivers 
his  inspired  instructions  to  the  Church ;  but  of  the 
order  of  magnitude.  Notice,  for  a  moment,  this  re- 
lation in  which  he  places  the  atonement  for  sin  to 
the  other  principal  topics  of  his  instruction.  He  has 
been  dealing,  not  long  before,  very  acutely  and  pro- 
foundly, —  as  you  will  see  if  you  look  back  along 
the  links  of  that  chain  of  his  great  argument  to  the 


GOOD   FRIDAY.  269 

Corinthians,  so  strong  in  thouglit  and  so  ardent  and 
glowing  in  the  fire  of  his  feeling,  —  with  the  work- 
ings of  the  Christian  conscience,  in  the  practical 
questions  of  an  upright  life,  —  conscience  towards 
oneself,  towards  other  men's  consciences,  and  towards 
God.  But  what  would  that  keen  and  subtle  faculty 
be,  he  asks,  with  its  awful  discriminations  between 
right  and  wrong,  setting  up  its  throne  of  judgment 
in  every  breast,  —  what  would  conscience  be,  but  a 
tormentor,  and  an  avenger,  if  there  were  no  reconcil- 
ing Mercy  with  it,  no  ransom  from  its  prison  house, 
no  pledged  and  purchased  pardon  for  the  penitence 
it  awakens,  no  Christ  dying  for  our  sins  ?  A  little 
later,  he  pronounces  that  incomparable  panegyric 
upon  Charity,  putting  it  foremost  in  the  impersonal 
trinity  of  graces :  but  the  real  sublimity  of  that 
matchless  description  is  that  it  gives  an  ideal  which 
has  its  actual  embodiment  only  in  the  love  of  the 
Cross,  and  of  Him  who  was  crucified  upon  it ;  nor  can 
there  be  a  drop  of  it,  anywhere,  in  all  the  cups  of 
kindness  that  the  world  passes  about,  having  the 
taste  of  the  true  heavenly  sweetness  in  it,  which  does 
not  spring  from  the  fountain  at  the  foot  of  that  Cross. 
Farther  on,  he  enters  into  some  explanations  of  the 
extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit  to  the  believer,  — 
those  supernatural  charismata  that  lightened  on  the 
minds  and  loosened  the  tongues  of  the  first  witnesses 


270  NEW   HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

for  Jesus  against  the  principalities  and  powers  of  the 
world.  But  even  these  marvels  of  spiritual  utter- 
ance, he  declares,  are  as  nothing  compared  to  that 
Sacrifice  for  sin  which  is  the  one  unutterable  mys- 
tery and  miracle  of  God,  and  will  he  when  tongues 
have  ceased  and  knowledge  has  vanished  away. 
Then  he  is  proceeding  to  unfold  the  doctrine  of  the 
Resurrection,  in  that  great  burial-chapter  which 
throws  open  the  gate  of  heaven  over  every  disciple's 
grave.  But  he  takes  pains  to  pause  and  tell  us  that 
before  the  doctrine  of  the  Resurrection,  underneath 
it,  prerequisite  to  it,  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Dying  of 
the  Lord  ;  "  this  mortal  "  puts  on  its  "  immortality  " 
only  by  receiving  the  gift  of  the  atonement;  man 
lives  again  from  the  Cross,  or  else  he  never  would  live 
again  from  the  broken  tomb  ;  the  Easter  sun  gets  all 
its  singular  light  by  its  contrast  with  the  Good  Fri- 
day darkness ;  "I  delivered  unto  you,"  indeed,  he 
says,  "  how  that  Christ  rose  again  the  third  day," 
but  I  "  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all^''  as  the  pri- 
mary and  supreme  reality,  "  how  that  He  died  for 
our  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures." 

Confining  our  attention  to  what  he  wrote  to  the 
Corinthians  alone,  the  proof  would  be  abundant  and 
irrefutable.  Standing  before  those  susceptible  and 
cultivated  admirers  of  the  high  things  and  the  great 
things  and  the  beautiful  things  of  this  world,  with  a 


GOOD   FRIDAY.  271 

humility  of  self-denial  the  more  impressive  because 
of  his  own  passionate  intellectual  aspiration,  he  says 
quietly,  in  the  grand  meekness  of  that  self-mastery, 
which  nothing  else  but  the  Cross  had  wrought  in 
him,  —  "I  determined  not  to  know  anything  among 
you,"  —  neither  poetry  nor  philosophy,  neither  ethics 
nor  art,  nothing  "  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  cruci- 
fied," —  and  Him  not  living  in  righteousness  merely, 
not  teaching  a  heavenly  and  holy  wisdom  for  men  to 
live  by  merely,  not  the  perfect  example,  or  the  at- 
tested miracle-worker  and  Prophet,  or  the  Head  of  a 
new  school  of  spiritual  science  merely,  —  as  some 
modern  dilutions  of  Christianity  tell  you,  —  no,  but 
"  Him  Crucified."  Dividing  the  whole  world  of 
mankind  into  its  two  moral  hemispheres  by  his  com- 
prehensive classification,  he  faces  them  both  —  Jew 
and  Greek  —  with  his  one  all-sufficient  message,  — 
"  The  Jews  require  a  sign,  the  Greeks  seek  after 
wisdom ;  but  we  preach  Christ  crucified,  unto  the 
Jews  a  stumbling-block  and  unto  the  Greeks  foolish- 
ness." When  he  saw  there  some  Corinthian  converts 
making  a  party-leader  of  himself,  and  rallying  around 
him,  in  their  admiration  of  his  energy  and  zeal,  for 
party-purposes,  scheming  for  his  advantage  to  the 
detriment  of  his  brother  Apostles,  he  points  them 
away  from  himself  to  that  supreme  and  central  Ob- 
ject of  their  faith,  pleading  only  for  Him :  "  Was 


272        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Paul  crucified  for  you  ?  "  When  he  entreats  for 
purity  among  them,  and  the  purging  out  of  their 
sensuality,  this  is  his  reason ;  "  Christ  our  Passover 
is  sacrificed  for  us."  Keep  your  bodies  holy  as  tem- 
ples, for  they  are  "  bought  with  a  price,"  —  and  that 
price  is  Jesus'  blood.  When  he  remonstrates  against 
misleading  or  tempting  an  unguarded  heart,  —  this  is 
his  expostulation  :  "  Shall  the  weak  brother  perish, 
for  whom  Christ  died  ?  "  When  he  urges  them  with 
all  that  tenderness  which  sometimes  softened  into 
singular  sweetness  the  robust  strength  of  his  manli- 
ness, —  to  cherish  a  forgiving  and  forbearing  temper, 
this  is  his  motive  :  "If  I  forgave  anything,  to  whom 
I  forgave  it,  for  your  sakes  forgave  I  it  in  the  person 
of  Qhrist.''^  When  he  sets  forth  the  dignity  and  au- 
thority of  the  Ministry  in  the  Church,  which  Christ 
ordained,  he  is  careful  to  exhibit  it  as  the  "  ministry 
of  reconciliation,"  preaching  and  publishing  the  suf- 
ferings and  atonement  of  the  Crucified..  When  his 
own  sufferings  and  weakness  oppress  him,  this  is  his 
consolation,  that  in  that  infirm  and  aching  body  he 
can  "bear  about  the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  And 
when  he  comes  to  offer  to  the  reverential  reception  of 
the  Church  that  most  precious  of  all  its  privileges 
and  most  blessed  of  all  its  helps,  the  Supper  of  the 
Lord,  —  this  is  the  inmost  meaning  he  assigned  to  it  ; 
it  shows  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  He  come ;  it  rep- 


GOOD  FRIDAY.  ^i'6 

resents  the  dying  love ;  its  profaners  are  they  who  do 
not  discern  the  Lord's  broken  body  there.  It  is  plain 
enough  where  the  Apostle  Paul  sets  the  doctrine  of 
the  Propitiatory  Sacrifice  in  the  New  Testament  sys- 
tem of  theology,  and  among  the  practical  powers  and 
consolations  of  the  Christian  life.  He  sets  it  where 
the  Church  evangelic  and  Catholic  finds  it,  and  has 
kept  it,  in  the  supreme  and  central  place. 

Let  us  turn  from  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Master 
Himself.  Keeping  Him  faithful  company,  through 
the  vivid  narrative  and  clear  report  of  the  Evangel- 
ists, from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  where  should  we 
say  He  Himself  lays  the  chief  stress  of  His  whole 
mediatorial  work  for  the  world  ?  Where  does  He 
seem  to  regard  Himself  as  most  precisely  and  com- 
pletely fulfilling  the  end  of  His  appearing  and  the 
will  of  the  Father  ?  At  what  point  in  the  whole 
history  does  the  grand  consummation  come  ?  Around 
what  spot  does  the  most  momentous  interest  gather  ? 
For  what  scene  does  all  the  rest  appear  evidently  to 
have  been  a  preparation  ?  When  was  that  "  hour  " 
of  which  He  exclaimed,  —  "  Now  is  the  hour  come 
that  the  Son  of  Man  should  be  glorified  ?  "  It  was  not 
when  he  was  delivering,  by  seaside  and  wayside, 
those  searching  and  inexhaustible  parables  that  the 
mind  of  man  has  never  wearied  of  exploring  since. 
It  was  not  when  He  preached  the  sermon  of  all  ages 

18 


274        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

with  the  mountain  for  His  pulpit,  or  at  the  gate  of 
the  temple  offered  the  thirsty  people,  in  His  doctrine, 
the  water  of  everlasting  life,  —  speaking  as  man 
never  spake.  It  was  not  when  He  walked  on  the 
sea,  or  fed  the  five  thousand,  or  healed  the  sick,  or 
drove  the  traffickers  from  the  courts  of  His  Father's 
House,  or  raised  the  dead,  or  even  on  the  Mount  of 
Transfiguration,  where  the  voice  out  of  the  cloud 
testified  to  His  Divinity.  No,  not  then.  Not  in  the 
teaching,  the  example,  in  the  delivering  of  any  new 
truth,  or  in  miraculous  works,  as  wonderful  in  their 
mercy  as  their  power.  We  must  all  feel,  if  we  read 
deeply  and  in  sympathy  with  the  page,  that  through 
all  these  deeds  and  discourses  there  was  one  constant 
solemn  undertone  of  prophecy,  —  foreshadowing  the 
Cross,  —  the  death  which  He  should  accomplish  at 
Jerusalem. 

So  stands  the  testimony  for  the  supremacy  of  the 
Saviour's  sacrifice,  among  the  facts  of  His  ministry, 
and  the  powers  of  His  mediation.  We  should  leave 
the  representation  of  the  subject  all  unfinished,  if  we 
did  not  turn  to  the  other  side  of  it,  and  see  there 
how  this  doctrine  meets  our  own  practical,  human 
wants,  furnishing  to  every  sinning  heart  in  the  world 
just  the  relief  and  the  remedy  it  needs.  What  then 
is  it  that  such  a  heart,  be  it  yours  or  mine,  needs,  — 
"  first  of  all ;  "  what  must  Christ's  minister,  or  mis- 


GOOD   FRIDAY.  275 

sionary,  the  Christian  mother,  the  Christian  watcher 
by  the  sick  and  dying,  the  Christian  nurse  in  the 
hospital,  yes,  the  good  soldier  and  servant  of  Christ 
everywhere,  —  have  it  to  say,  "first  of  all,"  when 
such  a  heart,  of  child  or  man,  —  turns  at  last,  in  the 
blessed  anxiety  of  repentance,  and  asks.  How  can 
I  be  saved  ?  What  is  this  religion  of  yours  ?  What 
will  it  do  for  me  ?  The  answer,  the  message  is, 
"  While  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us." 
There  has  never  yet  been  found  an  intellectual  or 
moral  or  social  condition  too  high  or  too  low  for 
this  doctrine.  No  debasement  has  been  too  vile^  and 
no  natural  purity  has  been  too  refined  for  it.  The 
explorations  of  Christian  missionaries  have  found  no 
nation  or  tribe  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  —  even  where 
the  yery  idea  of  any  deity  was  most  nearly  extinct, 
—  in  which  this  simple  message,  "  Christ  died  for  our 
sins,"  has  not  been  apprehended,  seized,  rejoiced  in, 
and  lived  upon,  —  as  the  opening  eye  welcomes  light. 
A  benighted  East  India  Pagan,  his  mind  weak  with 
age  and  imbruted  by  years  of  superstition,  has  been 
known  to  awake  into  a  clear  and  rational  faith  by 
reading  on  a  scrap  of  a  castaway  leaf  of  the  Bible, 
"  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin." 
A  rude  Indian  child  of  the  western  woods,  untaught, 
has  been  known  to  spell  out  from  a  few  rude  signs  a 
satisfying  and  abiding  assurance  that  to  trust  Christ's 


276        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

Cross  is  to  be  safe  forever.  Hooker  and  Butler,  Am- 
brose and  Augustine,  Anselm  and  Dante,  Bossuet 
and  Edwards,  if  asked  on  what  their  hope  of  everlast- 
ing life  rested,  would  have  answered  in  the  same 
simple  words,  —  "Christ  died  for  our  sins."  It  is 
not  a  deduction  of  a  science  or  the  result  of  a  proc- 
ess :  it  goes  straight  like  a  flash  of  light  to  the  suf- 
fering soul.  Nothing  will  do,  for  a  G-ospel^  that 
leaves  any  trouble  incurable,  any  sorrow  uncom- 
forted,  any  sin  beyond  forgiveness.  The  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin,  all  its  kinds,  and 
all  its  degrees,  —  the  hard  cold  sins  of  avarice  and 
hypocrisy  ;  the  hot,  impulsive  sins  of  passion  and 
desperation.  The  most  perfectly  devised  system  of 
morality,  or  even  of  spirituality,  if  the  Cross  is  left 
out  of  it,  can  do  nothing  like  that.  There  are  pallia- 
tions, and  there  are  supports,  for  nearly  all  the  evils 
and  miseries  of  our  lives  hut  one.  That  one  is  the 
deep-struck  conviction  of  wrong  with  God. 

"  Not  poppy,  nor  mandragora, 
Nor  all  tke  drowsy  syrups  of  the  world," 

can  drug  that  to  sleep.  When  this  tremendous  sense 
of  sin  and  judgment  wakes  up  and  takes  hold  of  us, 
all  the  other  resources  that  helped  us  are  stricken 
down.  You  may  stand  before  a  man  restless  and 
agonized  under  that  conviction,  —  and  you  may  re- 


GOOD   FRIDAY.  277 

peat  to  him  any  aphorism,  any  promise,  any  proposi- 
tion, of  any  philosophic  system  that  was  ever  origi- 
nated among  men,  —  but  it  fails  to  meet  the  want. 
If  he  is  ever  satisfied  and  comforted,  it  is  by  this  di- 
vine declaration  alone,  —  Christ  died  for  our  sins. 

The  message  must  be  one  that  can  be  put  into 
very  few  words,  words  very  easily  understood,  and 
that  do  their  work  with  quick  power.  Grant  all  that 
may  be  claimed  of  the  advantage  of  a  deliberate  and 
gradually  growing  faith,  where  all  the  faculties  of 
reason,  affection,  conscience,  and  will  consent  togeth- 
er, and  the  Christian  character  is  built  up  day  by  day 
to  its  completion.  I  claim  as  much  of  that  advantage 
as  any,  where  it  may  be  had !  But  remember,  there 
are  ten  thousand  cases  where  life  and  death  struggle 
together  in  a  man's  breast,  in  one  short  embrace,  and 
there  is  but  little  time  or  strength  for  a  process  of 
the  mind.  Tell  him  then  that  the  years  of  a  good 
life,  that  a  faithful  endeavor  to  do  about  right,  or 
that  an  indiscriminate  and  universal  indulgence  of 
Heaven  for  good  and  bad  alike,  will  save  him,  —  you 
mock  him.  Tell  him  a  Saviour  has  died  for  his  sins, 
and  to  believe  that,  —  and  then,  instantly,  the  old 
things  pass  away,  the  new  man  is  put  on,  —  and 
like  the  dying  thief  that,  as  on  this  day,  on  the 
Cross,  cried,  "  Lord  remember  me  when  Thou  com  est 
into  Thy  kingdom,"  —  his  penitent  soul  may  be 
made  white,  and  his  pardon  be  sealed  in  heaven. 


278        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

So  universal,  so  satisfying,  so  swift,  is  the  remedy 
of  Christ's  sacrifice  for  the  soul's  sin.  A  great  deal 
in  the  edifying  of  character,  and  the  sanctifying  of 
life,  and  the  growing  in  holiness,  will  remain  to  be 
done,  beyond  all  this,  please  God,  under  the  ap- 
pointed ordinances  of  the  Church.  But  that  soul  has 
passed  from  death  into  life.  Its  peace  has  begun, 
and  begun  to  be  like  a  river.  That  soul  has  only  to 
abide  in  the  vine,  where  faith  has  grafted  it  in,  to 
bear  fruit  unto  life  eternal. 

I  saw  again.     Behold  Heaven's  open  door! 
Behold  a  throne!     The  Seraphim  stood  o'er  it; 
The  white  robed  Elders  fell  upon  the  floor 
And  flung  their  crowns  before  it. 

I  saw  a  wondrous  book.     An  angel  strong 
To  Heaven  and  Earth  proclaimed  his  loud  appeals: 
But  a  hush  passed  across  the  Seraph's  song, 
For  none  might  loose  the  seals. 

And  straightway  up  above 
Stood  in  the  midst  a  Wondrous  Lamb,  snow-white, 
Heart- wounded  with  the  deej),  sweet  wounds  of  love, 

Eternal,  infinite. 

Then  rose  the  song  no  ear  had  heard  before ! 
Then  from  the  white-robed  throng  high  anthems  woke, 
And  fast  as  Spring-tide  on  the  sounding  shore 
The  Hallelujahs  broke. 


GOOD   FRIDAY.  279 

TTEAR  us,  O  Lord  Christ,  crucified  for  our  redemption,  and 
■*--■-  remember  now  the  day  when  Thou  didst  commend  Thy 
blessed  Spirit  into  the  hands  of  Thy  Heavenly  Father,  when 
with  a  torn  body  and  bleeding  temples  and  a  broken  heart 
Thou  didst  wonderfully  suffer  and  mercifully  die  for  our  sins. 
We  beseech  Thee,  O  Thou  brightness  and  Image  and  Love  of 
God,  so  to  heal  and  transform  us  by  Thy  most  precious  death, 
that  being  dead  unto  the  world  we  may  live  only  unto  Thee, 
and  that  at  the  last  hour  of  our  departing  from  this  mortal  life 
we  may  commit  our  souls,  reconciled  and  cleansed,  unto  Thine 
Eternal  Hands,  and  that  Thou  mayest  receive  us  into  life  im- 
mortal, there  to  reign  with  Thee  world  without  end.     Amen. 


280        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 


^atuma^  in  5l^olt  SHeeft 


Remember,  therefore,  how  thou  hast  received  and  heard,  and 
hold  fast  and  repent.  If  therefore  thou  shalt  not  watch,  I  will 
come  on  thee  as  a  thief,  and  thou  shalt  not  know  what  hour  I 
will  come  upon  thee.  Be  watchful  and  strengthen  the  things 
which  remain. 

Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for  the  mercy 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life. 

If  thou  wilt  walk  in  my  ways,  and  if  thou  wilt  keep  my 
charge,  I  will  give  thee  places  to  walk  in  among  these  that 
stand  by. 

He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death; 
I  will  give  him  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life  which  is  in  the  midst  of 
the  Paradise  of  God. 

There  is  a  great  question  for  us  all,  at  this  sol- 
emn time,  when  the  services  of  the  Forty  Days  are 
closing,  and  our  Lord's  glorious  Kingdom  is  nearer 
by  one  whole  round  of  lioly  memorial  days.  Let 
each  person  consider  whether  he  has  yet  applied 
himself  in  earnest  to  the  plain  simple  duty  of  honor- 
ing and  praising  Christ  in  His  Church,  and  follow- 
ing Him  in  His  Life,  so  evidently  set  forth  in  this 


SATURDAY   IN  HOLY   WEEK.  281 

Lenten  history.  Our  Lord,  we  know,  once  told  the 
Pharisees  that  if  the  multitudes  about  Him  should 
hold  their  peace  and  not  take  their  part  in  the  great 
Processional  Hymn  that  greeted  Him  as  He  ap- 
proached the  sacred  city,  the  very  stones  would  im- 
mediately cry  out.  It  would  be  such  unaccountable 
ingratitude  and  wanton  unbelief  that  all  things  in 
heaven  and  earth  would  have  a  voice  given  them  to 
exclaim  against  it.  Surely  He  spoke  it  of  those  also 
who  at  any  time  stay  scornfully  or  lazily  away  from 
the  blessed  worship  of  His  House.  They  do  not 
really  believe  His  Kingdom,  do  not  heartily  care  for 
it ;  how  can  they  look  for  any  portion  in  it  when  it 
comes  ?  This  is  a  warning  to  those  who  being  mas- 
ters of  their  own  time  and  motions  set  themselves 
conscientiously  no  fixed  rule  in  the  matter  of  serving 
their  Lord  in  His  Sanctuary,  but  come  or  stay  away 
just  as  suits  their  fancy  at  the  time.  Christ  does 
not  leave  you  at  liberty  to  make  one  among  those 
who  own  and  praise  Him,  or  to  hold  your  peace.  He 
expects  one  and  all  to  join  His  Family  and  come  to 
His  House,  as  He  has  given  all  commandment  and 
help  and  strength  to  do.  His  Eye  sees  all  in  the 
congregation.  His  Ear  hears  all  in  the  responses. 
Let  not  man,  woman,  or  child  be  wanting,  but  every 
heart  and  every  tongue  join  gladly  and  reverently 
in  the  Hosannas  of  His  public   adoration.     If  this 


282  NEW   HELPS   TO   A  HOLY   LENT. 

has  not  begun  with  you  already,  begin  it  with  the 
awakening  of  Easter  morning. 

But  there  is  an  admonition  also  for  the  regular 
church-goers.  Our  very  Prayer  Books  seem  to  ask 
us,  now  on  Easter  Even,  how  we  have  used  them  dur- 
ing the  Lent  and  Holy  Week  that  are  past.  We 
have  turned  over  their  leaves  from  day  to  day. 
Have  our  minds  and  hearts  gone  along  with  what 
we  saw  there?  We  have  seemed  to  be  following 
Jesus  so  far  on  His  way.  Here  we  behaved  like 
those  His  first  followers  whom  we  heard  Him  so 
graciously  approving  at  the  beginning  of  this  week? 
To  be  like  them  we  should  have  stript  ourselves  of 
our  precious  things,  the  things  we  most  value,  our 
own  worldly  admirations  and  luxuries  and  fancies, 
and  laid  them  at  His  Feet.  The  thoughts  that 
were  most  welcome  and  delightful  to  us,  if  they  were 
not  religious  or  innocent  thoughts,  should  have  been 
diligently  banished  from  our  minds,  —  at  least  when 
we  were  at  our  prayers.  And  wherever  we  were  it 
should  have  been  a  study  and  joy  to  us  to  find  out 
continually  little  silent  ways  of  giving  up  something 
to  our  Saviour,  of  making  some  real  sacrifice  for  His 
sake.  How  eagerly  that  multitude  gathered  about 
Him,  to  bring  if  it  were  but  the  branch  of  a  tree 
to  show  Him  homage  !  When  shall  we  be  like  them, 
and  see  others  around  us  like  them,  earnestly  watch- 


SATURDAY  IN    HOLY  WEEK.  283 

ing  for  every  little  chance  of  doing  Him  honor,  or 
waiting  on  those,  the  sick,  the  poor,  and  the  ignorant, 
whom  He  reckons  as  part  of  His  Body  ?  The  very 
heathen  in  their  blindness  might  cry  out  if  we  hold 
back  our  hands  from  such  works  of  love  in  His 
Name  :  and  if  in  any  part  of  our  worship  we  are 
backward  or  negligent  or  insincere,  they  will  put  us 
to  shame  by  their  greater  diligence.  And  may  we 
not  well  cry  out  upon  ourselves  when  we  think  how 
often,  during  this  hallowed  season  that  is  now  draw- 
ing to  an  end,  we  have  been  unthankful  for  mercies, 
careless  of  God's  Law,  anxious  to  please  ourselves, 
ready  to  blame  others,  forgetful  of  duties,  heedless 
of  doing  as  we  would  be  done  by,  we,  the  regular 
church-goers,  irreverent  or  idle  or  impatient  ?  These 
questions  mark  the  offerings  for  which  He  looks 
who  is  our  Saviour  and  our  King,  —  as  He  passes  on 
the  way  in  the  midst  of  us  from  His  Cross  to  His 
Glory,  towards  the  true  and  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
and  casts  His  Eye  around  to  see  if  we  are  following 
Him  and  waiting  on  Him  as  we  ought.  We  see 
Him  not,  but  He  sees  us.  He  watches  every  step, 
every  tone,  every  look ;  and  soon  He  will  be  at  the 
cit}^  gate.  And  soon  our  Guide  will  manifest  Him- 
self as  our  Judge.  Time  will  end,  our  resurrection 
will  come  and  eternity  begin.  Then  if  not  before 
we  shall  wish  in  earnest  that  we  had  regarded  His 


284        NEW  HELPS  TO  A  HOLY  LENT. 

invitations,  that  we  had  laid  our  wills  at  His  Feet, 
that  we  had  sought  out  ways  of  serving  Him.  Well 
for  us  if  we  can  say  already,  and  say  then  for  the 
last  time  among  those  who  will  be  numbered  with 
His  Saints  in  glory  everlasting,  "  Blessed  is  He  that 
cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord !  "  He  will  soon 
appear.     Shall  we  be  ready  ? 

"  Whitlier  goest  Thou,  O  Saviour, 
Without  royal  diadem, 
With  Thy  regal  hand  unsceptred  ?  ' ' 
"Bethlehem." 

"  Whither  goest  Thou,  O  Saviour, 

Lord  of  Life  and  Lord  of  Death, 
Light  of  men,  in  darkness  shining?  " 
"Nazareth." 

**  Whither  goest  Thou,  O  Saviour, 
Second  of  the  Trinity, 
Blessing  joy  and  soothing  sorrow?  " 
"  Galilee." 

"  Whither  goest  Thou,  O  Saviour? 

We  would  rise  and  follow  Thee, 
Glory  of  Thy  people  Israel." 
"  Calvary." 

"  Whither  goest  Thou,  O  Saviour, 

From  the  grave  returned  to  be 
Resurrection,  Life,  and  Glory?" 
"Bethany." 


SATURDAY   IN   HOLY   WEEK.  285 

"  Whither  hast  Thou  gone,  O  Saviour, 

Lord  of  purity  ?  ' ' 
"  Whither  I  have  gone,  thou  knowest. 

I  am  He, 

"  Who  hath  overcome  and  conquered; 
Those  who  follow  me 
Yet  shall  hear  my  voice  —  '  Ye  blessed, 
Come  and  see.' " 

/^  GOD,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of 
the  whole  Family  in  heaven  and  earth,  we  bow  our  knees 
unto  Thee,  praying  that  Thou  wouldest  forgive  all  the  sins  of 
our  holy  things  and  of  our  holy  times  and  that  Thou  wouldest 
grant  us,  according  to  the  riches  of  Thy  glory,  to  be  strength- 
ened with  might  by  Thy  Spirit  in  the  inner  man;  that  Christ 
may  dwell  in  our  hearts  by  faith;  that  we,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with  all  Saints 
what  is  the  length  and  breadth  and  depth  and  height,  and  to 
know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  we 
may  be  filled  with  all  the  fullness  of  God.  Now  unto  Him,  the 
Kesurrection  and  the  Life,  who  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abun- 
dantly above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the  power 
that  worketh  in  us,  unto  Him  be  glory  in  the  Church  through- 
out all  ages  world  without  end!    Ameji. 


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Lent,   1876. 


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of  His  love,  and  to  serve  Him  more  truly."  —  Churchman. 


Shams  in  Lent ; 


Or,  the  Real  and  the  False  in  Lenten  Duties.    By  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Potter,  D.  D. 
Paper 10  cents. 


The  Choked  Life 

Some  Thoughts  for  Lent.     1  _ 

"  Plain  truths,  plainly  told,  with  equal  delicacy  and  force." 


Some  Thoughts  for  Lent.    By  the  Rev.  H.  C.  Potter,  D.  D.    Paper,  15  cents. 


Lenten  Discipline. 

By  the  Rev.  H.  A.  Yardley,  Chaplain  and  Professor  in  the  Berkeley  Divinity 
School.    Paper 8  cents. 

Directions  for  Lent. 

By  the  Rt.  Rev.  H.  Southgate,  D.  D.    Paper 12  cents. 

Lent:  A  Precious  Season. 

New  edition,  with  an  Application  to  Confirmation.    Paper,  10  cents;  cloth,  flex- 
ible   25  cents. 


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l\'m\''^li  nni°lu'^'"'  Senn,nary-Speer  Library 


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